European Wax Center, a franchised chain of hair removal salons backed by private equity firm General Atlantic, filed with the SEC to raise up to $100 million.
WHO: Founded in 2004 by brothers David and Joshua Coba, European Wax Center offers waxing services and sells its own line of products. The company claims it is the largest and fastest-growing franchisor and operator of out-of-home waxing services in the US by the number of centers and systemwide sales.
WHY: The company plans to use proceeds from the IPO to contribute to EWC ventures, "purchase EWC Ventures Units and corresponding shares of Class B common stock from certain of the EWC Ventures post-IPO members," and "repay $88.7 million aggregate principal amount of the outstanding loans under our Senior Secured Credit Facility, along with cash on hand," according to the filing.
DETAILS:
- European Wax Center will publicly list their stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under ticket symbol "EWCZ."
- The company delivered over 21 million waxing services in 2019 and over 13 million waxing services in 2020 across its network. As of March 27, 2021, the company had centers in 808 locations (803 of which are franchised) across 44 states.
- Per the SEC filing, sales fell from $687 million to $469 million from 2019 to 2020, tumbling 36 percent. The first 13 weeks of 2021 show an increase of $3.8 million up to $36.7 million, in contrast to 2020's $32.8 million.
- Morgan Stanley, BofA Securities, Jefferies, Citi, Guggenheim Securities, and Truist Securities are the joint bookrunners on the deal. No pricing terms were disclosed.
- In 2018 growth-focused private equity firm General Atlantic made an investment in the brand that fueled recent expansion.
