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Aritzia Seeks to Raise About $232 Million in Initial Offering

Aritzia aims to raise about C$300 million ($232 million) from its initial public offering.
Source: Aritzia
By
  • Bloomberg

VANCOUVER, Canada — Aritzia LP, the Canadian women's fashion retailer, aims to raise about C$300 million ($232 million) from its initial public offering, in what would be the country's largest IPO since the C$1.83 billion sale of electric utility Hydro One Ltd. in October.

Aritzia shareholders Berkshire Partners LLC and company founder Brian Hill plan to sell 20 million subordinate voting shares for C$14 to C$16 apiece and list on the Toronto Stock Exchange, the Vancouver-based company said in a Sept. 2 regulatory filing. That would put the total raised to about C$280 million to C$320 million.

Aritzia was started in Vancouver in 1984 by Hill, a third-generation retailer and current chief executive officer. The company, which sells clothes and accessories aimed at women aged 15 to 45, now has 75 retail locations across North America, including in New York, Toronto, Montreal, Boston, Chicago and San Francisco, according to its filing.

Berkshire Partners, a Boston-based private equity firm, and Hill, which are selling the shares, will collectively hold 78.5 percent of the issued and outstanding shares in the company and about 97.4 percent of the voting power after the sale, according to the filing. Berkshire Partners bought a majority stake in the company for an undisclosed sum in 2005.

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Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Bank of America Corp.’s Merrill Lynch Canada unit and Toronto-Dominion Bank are leading the sale.

By Doug Alexander and Scott Deveau; editors: Peter Echenbaum, David Scanlan and Jacqueline Thorpe.

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