- The European Wax Center Inc., which presented itself as a summer must-have as investors slip into the August holiday slowdown, raised $180 million in an initial public offering of shares, according to a person familiar with the matter :
The company, funded by investment firm General Atlantic, sold 10.6 million shares for $17 each, said the person who asked not to be identified because the information wasn't publicly yet. The company had marketed the shares for $15 to $18.
A representative for the European Wax Center, headquartered in Plano, Texas, declined to comment.
The listing come as U.S. capital markets begin to become slower as banks and investors take time off during August after more than a year of robust IPO activity in both countries. More than 700 companies, including special purpose acquisition vehicles, have gone public in the U.S. this year, raising more than $230 billion, the busiest year on record, according to Bloomberg data compiled from the firm
European Wax Center and its franchisees operate 808 units in the U.S. according to the filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The company warned of the seasonality of its business.
'Services are typically in higher demand in periods leading to holidays and the summer season, said the company in a filing. 'The resulting demand trend yields higher system-wide sales in the second and fourth quarter of our fiscal year.
Morgan Stanley, Bank of America Corp. and Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lead the offering. The share market are expected to start trading at the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol EWCZ on Thursday.