The traditional jeans manufacturer Levi Strauss (Levi’s) has met with great investor interest on his return to the stock market. The first price was over $ 22 yesterday, about 30 percent above the issue price of $ 17. The papers of the blue jeans icon, which were listed under the ticker code „LEVI“ on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) shot up at times even more than 35 percent in the air.
The management team of the US company with Bavarian roots rang in the premiere in New York as traditionally stock trading. But that was not the only reason why uncommonly many people in jeans could be seen on the stock exchange – the NYSE also canceled their „no jeans“ rule in the retail parquet in honor of the newcomer, so that the stock market traders could also wear Levi’s.
First IPO 1971
The 166-year-old San Francisco-based fashion group raised some $ 623 million in fresh capital among investors on the IPO. The demand for the shares had been large before the start of trading – initially Levi’s had targeted a price range between 14 and 16 dollars. Overall, the company was valued at the stock market comeback at about 6.55 billion dollars.
Levi’s had already completed an IPO in 1971, but had been privatized in the mid-1980s again. The most influential owners are descendants of company founder Levi Strauss, who emigrated from Bavaria to New York and then in 1853 – lured by the gold rush on the US West Coast – moved on to California. There he opened a textile shop and specialized in robust work clothes for gold miners. Together with his partner Jacob Davis, Strauss is considered the inventor of blue jeans.
