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bebe files to go public
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April 17, 1998: 11:41 a.m. ET
Women's apparel company to sell estimated $30M initial public offering
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Women's fashion designer "bebe" has filed to go public with an estimated $30 million initial public offering.
bebe stores inc. of Brisbane, Calif., has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to sell an initial public offering of 2.5 million shares between $11 and $13 a share. BancAmerica Robertson Stephens and Bear Stearns will co-manage the underwriting.
The offering represents a 10 percent stake in the women's apparel and accessories company, which markets under the "bebe" and "bebe moda" brand names.
Of the total 2.5 million shares, half will be sold by bebe's Chairman and Chief Executive Manny Mashouf, who founded the company in 1976 with its first store in San Francisco. The sale will reduce Mashouf's ownership to 88.4 percent from 98.8 percent. Although other officials hold stock in the company, only Mashouf is selling shares.
Since 1976, bebe has expanded nationwide with high-profile marketing to 18- to 35-year-old women "who seek current fashion trends interpreted to suit their lifestyle needs."
But the investment community is likely to be more interested in bebe's earnings. The company has been profitable since 1993, and in 1997 it had net earnings of $5.1 million, or 23 cents a share, on sales of $95.1 million.
To be sure, Wall Street has seen mixed results from investing in famed fashion designers such as Donna Karan and Ralph Lauren.
Proceeds of the 1.25 million shares being sold by bebe will be used for new, expanded and relocated stores, improvements to its management information systems and expansion or relocation of its corporate offices and distribution center. The remainder will be used for working capital and general corporate purposes, bebe said in its filing.
-- by staff writer Robert Liu
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