Turkey’s Mavi IPO price values jeans maker ‘at up to $700 mln’

ANKARA - Reuters

Turkish fashion retailer Mavi Giyim’s initial public offering (IPO) is seen priced at 43 to 51 lira per share, valuing the jeans maker at up to 2.5 billion lira ($700 million), a source close to the matter told Reuters on May 30.

Bids were to be collected on June 8-9 and trading in the shares was expected to begin on June 15, according to the source. Mavi announced two weeks ago its plans for the listing on Istanbul’s stock exchange.

No one was immediately available to comment at Mavi.

Since its founding in Istanbul in 1991, Mavi has grown into one of Turkey’s best known clothing brands abroad, with a jeans range that includes styles including the “Relaxed boyfriend” and the “Myles.”

Its IPO is seen as a test of international demand for Turkish equities, after a coup attempt last year and a widespread crackdown that has seen more than 100,000 people sacked from their jobs and tens of thousands arrested.

The Istanbul Stock Exchange has seen a sharp decline in listings: $14.3 million have been raised in IPOs so far this year, compared with $119.9 million in the same period last year, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Goldman Sachs is acting as global coordinator and, together with Bank of America Corp’s Merrill Lynch, as joint international bookrunners. Turkey’s İş Yatırım is acting as domestic coordinator and bookrunner for the global offering.