Another retailer is looking to go public as Claire’s Holdings Inc. has filed to raise up to $100M in an initial public offering.
The tween and teen jewellery retailer, which says it is “the leading retail piercing destination,” plans to list its stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CLRS. In its IPO prospectus, Claire’s listed a net loss of $144.3M for the second quarter of fiscal 2021, compared with a loss of $38M in the year-ago quarter. Revenue rose to $356M from $184M a year ago.
Claire’s said it expects to invest more than $150M by the end of the fiscal year to “better align our offering with consumer trends, augment our physical and digital presence and enhance growth. We believe we have significant opportunities to drive long-term growth in revenue and earnings by further leveraging our brand and dynamic operating platform to expand our physical footprint, attract new consumers, and increase our share of wallet with our core demographic while enhancing our digital presence and consumers’ experience,” the company stated.
Claire’s previously filed for an IPO in 2013, but later withdrew the offering. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2018, with nearly $2bn in debt resulting from a leveraged buyout in which private equity firm Apollo Management took it private. Under its Chapter 11 reorganisation, the company eliminated much of its debt and passed control of the company to lenders, including Elliott Capital Management and Monarch Alternative Capital.
