Fender Musical Instruments, which is an iconic brand for guitars, has set the initial terms of its IPO.
The company plans to issue 10.7 million shares at a range of $13-$15. The underwriters include JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), William Blair, Baird, Stifel Nicolaus Weisel and Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC).
Leo Fender started the Fender Musical back in 1946, having pioneered the Telecaster. Since then, the company has snagged customers like Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and David Gilmour.
As of today, Fender holds the No. 1 position in terms of revenue for electric, acoustic and bass guitars in the U.S. The company has a wide assortment of brands other than Fender, such as Squier, Jackson, Guild, Ovation and Latin Percussion.
Private equity firm Weston Presidio will sell 3.5 million of its shares in the transaction, which should happen within the next couple weeks. Even after the IPO, Presidio will retain a 17.7% stake in the company.
A long-time follower of the IPO scene, back in 1999 Tom started one of the first sites in the space called WebIPO. It was a place where investors got research as well as access to deals for the dot-com boom. Tom also wrote the top-selling book, Investing in IPOs. In it, he covers all the aspects of analyzing an IPO, such as reading the prospectus, detecting the risk factors and understanding some of the arcane regulations. But don’t worry — if that process is too intimidating for you, thankfully Tom will do the legwork for you right here in the IPO Playbook blog.
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