Marilyn’s Estate Goes Public With IPO

Authentic Brands Group (ABG), the owner of Marilyn’s estate, has filed to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange, Bloomberg reports. (This follows the recent news that ABG have won a court order which enables them to freeze the assets of online storefronts selling counterfeit Monroe merchandise – see here.)

“A prospectus filed Tuesday gives a listing size of $100 million, but that’s a placeholder amount likely to change. Bloomberg News has reported that the New York-based company could be worth about $10 billion in an initial public offering.

Founded by Jamie Salter in 2010, Authentic Brands has grown to a portfolio of more than 30 apparel, celebrity and sports brands through an acquisition spree … The company’s net income amounted to $295 million during the quarter that ended in March, topping its full-year total of $225 million in 2020.

BlackRock Inc., Leonard Green & Partners LP, General Atlantic LLC, Simon Property Group Inc. and Lion Capital LLP are listed among its largest shareholders, according to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are leading the IPO (initial public offering.) The stock will trade under the symbol AUTH.”

Wikipedia defines an IPO here:

“An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment banks, who also arrange for the shares to be listed on one or more stock exchanges. Through this process, colloquially known as floating, or going public, a privately held company is transformed into a public company. Initial public offerings can be used to raise new equity capital for companies, to monetize the investments of private shareholders such as company founders or private equity investors, and to enable easy trading of existing holdings or future capital raising by becoming publicly traded.”

And finally, a lesson from Marilyn and Jane…

“For a kid from the small street I did very well on Wall Street
Though I never owned a share of stock
And now that I’m known in the biggest banks
I’m going back home and give my thanks
To the one who broke my heart (the one who broke my heart)
The one who broke my heart in Little Rock!”