Text size
Poshmark
and Petco, the latest participants in the IPO boom, are entering the public equity markets on Thursday. Shares of Poshmark, the first to begin trading, soared nearly 150%.
Poshmark’s (ticker: POSH) stock opened at $97.50 and hit a high of $104.98. Shares recently changed hands at $102.18, up 143.3%.
The strong performance came after Poshmark collected $252 million after selling 6 million shares at $42. The company had planned to offer 6.6 million shares at $35 to $39 each.
Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and Barclays are underwriters on the deal.
Poshmark operates a marketplace that lets consumers buy and sell new and used items like shoes, clothing, and jewelry. The company had 4.5 million active sellers as of Sept. 30, offering more than 201 million secondhand and new items to 6.2 million active buyers. Poshmark charges a 20% fee for sales that are $15 or more.
Petco is also scheduled to begin trading Thursday. The San Diego company raised $864 million, more than expected. Poshmark’s IPO collected $252 million after the company cut the size of the deal but priced it well above the range that had been expected.
Late Wednesday, Petco, a pet health and wellness company, sold 48 million shares at $18 each, above the range of $14 to $17 it had told investors to expect. Petco is scheduled to trade Thursday on the Nasdaq under the symbol WOOF. Its shares were indicated at $25.75. Goldman Sachs and BofA Securities are underwriters on the deal.
Petco, which no longer calls itself a retailer, operates about 1,470 pet-care centers that sell food, toys, and supplies, while offering professional services like animal grooming, veterinary care, and pet training. The company is highly leveraged and has about $3.24 billion in debt.
CVC Capital Partners and the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board will own nearly 67% of the company after the IPO. The stock has been publicly traded before, but the company was taken private both times.
Write to Luisa Beltran at luisa.beltran@dowjones.com