The haircare company Olaplex Holdings Inc—owned by the private equity firm Advent International—made its market debut through an Initial Public Offering (“IPO”) on 30 September 2021. Founded in 2014, Olaplex is a company that pioneered the category of haircare called “bond-building.” Olaplex products seek to restore damaged and compromised hair by repairing it from the inside out with their patented ingredient Bis-Aminopropyl Diglycol Dimaleate. As the top bond-building brand in professional haircare, with top sales in Sephora and Amazon, Olaplex has one of the highest follower counts on Instagram. The company stands at 2.1 million followers and is tagged in thousands of posts daily. In just a few short years, Olaplex has organically built a loyal and vocal consumer base.
Amid the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic, in the first half of 2021, Olaplex reported revenues of $270.2 million, marking an increase of 171% compared to the same period last year. In addition, the company’s EBITDA margins stood at 71% at the end of June. Currently, the company is seeking to raise over $1.2 billion through the sale of 67 million common shares. On September 28, the company increased its share pricing to $17 to $19, up from the $14 to $16 price range previously set. At this $19 share price, the company’s market capitalization could reach $12.3 billion. Olaplex will trade under the Nasdaq stock ticker “OLPX.” After the IPO, investment funds affiliated with Advent International will own approximately 78.2% of its shares if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase. The lead underwriters for the IPO are Goldman Sachs & Co, J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley, and Barclays.
According to the IPO filing, the company wishes to expand its existing line of hair care products and is considering plans to expand into adjacent categories such as skincare. While not every IPO stock will be a winner, it will be interesting to follow Olaplex’s stock market debut to see whether the share price will surge past $19.