Jackets are on display at the Canada Goose Inc. showroom in Toronto.Aaron Vincent Elkaim/The Canadian Press
Pricey parka maker Canada Goose Holdings Inc. is raising $340-million in an initial public offering, becoming the third Canadian consumer brand to go public since last October.
The Toronto-based company is selling 20-million subordinate voting shares for $17 each, pricing them above its expected $14 to $16 range, Canada Goose said late Wednesday in a press release. The stock will be dual listed on both the Toronto Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "GOOS." It will start trading in both markets on Thursday.
The timing appears to be right for Canada Goose to list: the weather in Toronto and New York City has been cold and snowy, while the IPO market for fast-growing retailers has been hot.
Canada Goose's stock sale comes on the heels of the debuts of Freshii Inc. in January and Aritzia Inc. last October, which saw their founders and financial backers cash in by selling a portion of their stakes to the public. These companies have seized on surging equity markets, as well as an appetite among investors to add new names outside the hard-hit resource sector to their portfolios.
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The company is going public with a dual-class share structure. The subordinate voting shares will have one vote per share, while the multiple voting shares will have 10 votes per share.
Canada Goose is owned by its founding family and U.S. private equity firm Bain Capital LP. An investment fund advised by Bain and DTR LLC, an entity indirectly controlled by the company's chief executive officer Dani Reiss, are selling a total of 13.7-million shares. The company is selling the remaining shares, saying that it plans to use its net proceeds from the offering to repay some of its debt.
Founded 60 years ago in a small Toronto warehouse, Canada Goose is known around the world for making outerwear that is both fashionable and functional. It sells these items in retailers and distributors in 36 countries, through its own e-commerce websites in Canada, the U.S., the U.K. and France, and in two company-owned retail stores in Toronto and New York City. It employs 1,688 people.
Canada Goose plans to fuel its growth by pushing into new markets and expanding its product offering beyond parkas for the frigid winter months. It also is planning to expand into new markets by launching new online storefronts and boosting its presence in other parts of the U.S. as well as in countries such as Germany, Italy, Scandinavia and China, to name a few.
CIBC World Markets Inc., Credit Suisse Securities (Canada) Inc., Goldman Sachs Canada Inc. and RBC Dominion Securities Inc. are leading the IPO in Canada.