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- Amer Sports, which makes Wilson tennis rackets, has confidentially filed for a US initial public offering
- The IPO could land the company a valuation as much as $10 billion, sources told Bloomberg.
- The IPO itself could raise $1 billion to $3 billion, and the company aims to list in early 2024.
Amer Sports, the company behind Wilson tennis rackets and other sports and outdoors products, has filed confidentially for a US initial public offering. The deal could value the company as high as $10 billion, according to a Bloomberg report on Wednesday.
People familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that the stock debut would happen early next year, and Amer is targeting an IPO of more than $1 billion, but could end up seeking as much as $3 billion.
Amer Sports, which encompasses brands including Atomic, Armada, Arc'teryx, and Salomon, is backed by Anta Sports Products, China's biggest athletic-apparel maker.
Last December, Bloomberg first reported that Anta and its co-investors were weighing a potential IPO for Amer Sports. Anta acquired Amer in 2019 for roughly $5.2 billion, and buyers in the takeover included Lululemon founder Chip Wilson and Tencent Holdings.
Anta's most recent annual report showed revenue for Amer Sports climbed 22% last year to hit $3.3 billion.
The US IPO market, meanwhile, has been sluggish for the better part of two years. Softbank-backed chip designer Arm looks poised to make the biggest splash of 2023 as soon as next week, and it could land a valuation as much as $52 billion and signal a turning point for IPOs at large.
"On the heels of what has arguably been the slowest IPO market in 20 years, investors are hungry for new ideas and VCs are getting impatient," Rob Wotczak, chief executive of boutique investment bank Freedom Capital Markets, told Insider on Wednesday, in speaking about Arm. "We see evidence of this in the increased number, and nature, of calls we are receiving and the type of due diligence we are currently undertaking."