From Meredith Corporation:

Amer Sports Inc. is looking to raise $1.8 billion in an initial public offering, selling 100 million shares at $16 to $18 apiece, 15M more if needed. In 2023, they had $3.05B in revenue and a loss of $115.6M. Anta, Tencent, and Chip Wilson plan to buy shares.

The offering, led by Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Morgan Stanley, and set to trade under AS on the NYSE, is the year’s biggest IPO in the U.S. since Arm Holdings Plc’s $5.23 billion offering in September. Amer Sports’ IPO is among several high-value IPOs planned for 2024

Amer Sports, owned by China’s Anta Sports, houses brands like Wilson, Salomon, and Louisville Slugger. The company is backed by Anamered Investments Inc., Chip Wilson, Anta Sports, and Tencent Holdings Ltd., who will buy up to $220 million and $70 million of stock respectively.

The Finnish company sees China as a significant market, where it made nearly a fifth of its revenue in the first nine months of 2023. The company plans to continue growing in the region by expanding its stores and e-commerce platform. Their brands’ collective market opportunity was $522 billion as of 2022.

The listing would be the biggest in the U.S. since a crop of IPOs led by semiconductor designer Arm Holdings Plc’s $5.23 billion offering in September failed to deliver a hoped-for rebound in the market. Referring to relevant companies and IPO happenings in the past adds context to the news and provides insight for the readers.

Anta acquired Amer Sports for about $5.2 billion in 2019 as part of an effort to bring high-end athletic equipment to China’s increasingly wealthy middle class. The buyer group also included Tencent and Chip Wilson. Amer Sports hoping to use this IPO as an opportunity to expand their brand and further solidify their global position.

Not only does Amer Sports own brands such as Wilson, Salomon, Arc’teryx, and Atomic, but also nearly one-fifth of its total revenue comes from China, making it a significant source of growth for the company. This adds to the relevance and interest of the news to potential investors.



Read more: Amer Sports, maker of Wilson tennis rackets and Salomon boots, seeks IPO that could raise $1.8 billion