The Gulf Time Newspaper One of the finest business newspapers in the UAE brought to you by our professional writers and editors.
Bloomberg
Joann Inc., the fabric and craft store, and selling shareholders raised about $131 million in an initial public offering (IPO) a decade after being taken private by buyout firm Leonard Green & Partners.
The IPO fell short of the Hudson, Ohio-based company’s goal of raising as much as $186 million. Joann sold about 11 million shares for $12 each after marketing them for $15 to $17. The shares closed up 2.1% to $12.25, giving Joann a market value of about $495 million. Private equity firm Leonard Green acquired the company, then Jo-Ann Stores Inc., in a $1.6 billion deal in 2010.
The retailer, dating back to a Cleveland storefront in 1943, prospered through pandemic, adding 8 million new customers to its marketing database in the past year, according to its filings with the US Securities and
Exchange Commission.
The company paid down more than $433 million in debt in 2020, reducing its total debt to about $930 million as of October 31, according to its filing. For the 39 weeks ended Oct. 31, Joann reported $174 million in net income on revenue of $1.92 billion, compared with a loss of more than $188 million on $1.55 billion in net sales during the same period the previous year.
Joann’s offering was led by Bank of America Corp. and Credit Suisse Group AG. The company’s shares are trading on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol JOAN.