Levi Strauss: Denim Company Files For IPO

Iconic denim company, Levi Strauss & Co., has announced it has filed for an initial public offering of shares of its common stock with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday. The company is looking to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol LEVI.

The San Francisco-based company intends to raise $100 million through the IPO, CNBC reported. The public shares will be offered as Levi’s Class A common stock while the Class B shareholders will receive 10 votes for every Class A vote, according to the news outlet.

This is not the first time that Levi went public with its stock shares. In 1971, the company listed on the exchange and then went private again in 1985.

The proceeds raised through the IPO will go towards “general corporate purposes,” including working capital, operating expenses, and capital expenditures, according to the company’s SEC filing. Additional funding will provide Levi with the capital for acquisitions, which the company has no current plans for, it said.

New opportunities for Levi Strauss exist in emerging markets such as China, India, and Brazil, where the company hopes to expand its presence, the filing said. Levi had $5.58 billion in revenue in 2018 and a net income of $283 million.

The IPO will be underwritten by Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Evercore ISI, BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Guggenheim Securities, HSBC, Drexel Hamilton, Telsey Advisory Group, and the Williams Capital Group.