Insight

Bain Capital’s Canada Goose shoots for C$320 mln from public sale

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Bain Capital, Canada Goose, IPO, initial public offering, Canada, apparel
Workers piece together outerwear on the manufacturing floor of Canada Goose's facility in Toronto January 17, 2012. Coat maker Canada Goose found its niche by shunning the make-it-offshore phenomenon, producing its heavy duty down parkas on Canadian soil. Even as Canada's clothing industry crumbles, with employment down 60 percent in just over a decade, the 55-year old family-run shop bucked the broader trend of moving production to low-cost locales by keeping manufacturing at home. Picture taken January 17. To match Analysis CANADA-NICHE/ REUTERS/Fred Thornhill (CANADA - Tags: BUSINESS TEXTILE) - RTR2WZ7Q
  • Maker of popular outerwear prices IPO in Canada and U.S.
  • Aims to sell 20 million shares at C$14 to C$16
  • Bain Capital bought Canada Goose in 2013; terms undisclosed

Canada Goose, a designer and maker of luxury outdoor apparel, priced its recently filed initial public offering in Canada and the United States.

The company plans to raise as much as C$320 million (US$239 million) from a sale of 20 million subordinate voting shares at C$14 to C$16 per unit, according to the updated prospectus.

That would give Canada Goose a market value of more than C$1.7 billion (US$1.3 billion), Renaissance Capital estimates.

Founded in 1957 in a small Toronto warehouse, Canada Goose has grown into a global outerwear brand. It is currently owned by U.S. private equity firm Bain Capital, which bought it in 2013 for an undisclosed amount.

The IPO will include a secondary sale by Bain. Upon its completion, the Boston investor will remain Canada Goose’s controlling shareholder, with an interest of close to 70 percent, according to the updated prospectus.

Canada Goose said it would use its share of the proceeds to repay a portion of debt outstanding.

Canada Goose will list on the New York Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol GOOS. The shares are being offered domestically by CIBC, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, RBC, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Barclays Capital, BMO, TD, Wells Fargo and Canaccord Genuity.

Earlier this week, another Canadian company, STEP Energy Services, an oilfield-service provider, priced its IPO. STEP is backed by Canadian private equity firm ARC Financial Corp.

In all, three Canadian PE-backed companies have announced plans to go public this year. The third, frac-sand producer Source Energy Services, a portfolio investment of TriWest Capital Partners, filed last month.

A fourth, health-food restaurant chain Freshii, backed by Klass Capital, wrapped up its IPO in February. The company ultimately raised about C$144 million, according to adviser DLA Piper Canada.

This suggests 2017’s IPO market in Canada will prove much more felicitous for PE-backed companies than 2016’s. Last year, the C$400 million offering by women’s fashion retailer Aritzia, a portfolio investment of Berkshire Partners, was one of the few highlights of a “dismal” overall performance, according to PwC.

Workers piece together outerwear on the manufacturing floor of Canada Goose’s facility in Toronto on Jan. 17, 2012. Photo courtesy of Reuters/Fred Thornhill