By Pragyan Kalita
July 30 (Reuters) - Permira-backed womenswear retailer Reformation was valued at $886.1 million after its shares opened flat in their NYSE debut on Thursday.
The Vernon, California-based company's shares opened at $15 apiece, the same as its offer price. The retailer and some of its shareholders had raised $211 million in its IPO on Wednesday.
The debut comes as the number of U.S. consumer and retail IPOs are at their lowest in a decade, even as the broader IPO market rebounds.
Founded
in 2009 as a vintage clothing boutique in Los Angeles, Reformation markets itself as the largest sustainable brand that designs and sells women's apparel and accessories.
“During the peak of ESG investing, a sustainability narrative often attracted significant investor interest,” said Kat Liu, vice president at IPO research firm IPOX.
“Today, investors are placing much greater emphasis on financial performance. Sustainability can certainly strengthen a brand and help build customer loyalty, but it can no longer compensate for weak fundamentals.”
Private equity firm Permira, which has long track record of investing in consumer companies, acquired a majority stake in Reformation in 2019. Permira’s portfolio also includes brands such as K-Way and Italian manufacturing hub Gruppo Florence.
Reformation has five core product groups: dresses, bottoms, tops, sweaters and accessories. Its strategy is based on testing new styles in small quantities, launching tests twice a week on its website and once a week in its stores, and then iterating on proven designs, it said in its IPO filing.
It has more than a million active customers across its direct-to-consumer channels, it added.
“A high percentage of returning customers suggests genuine brand loyalty rather than one-time demand. Those customers are generally less expensive to retain, tend to spend more over time, and can make revenue more predictable,” Liu said.
(Reporting by Pragyan Kalita in Bengaluru; Editing by Jonathan Ananda)
