Leonard Green-Backed Milan Laser Files for U.S. IPO

(Bloomberg) -- Milan Laser Inc., the laser hair removal chain backed by private equity firm Leonard Green, filed for an initial public offering, showing a profit this year after its revenue more than doubled.

The company in its filing Friday listed the size of the offering as $100 million, a placeholder that will change when terms of the share sale are set. The company expected to be valued at around $1 billion in an IPO, Bloomberg News reported last month.

Founded in Omaha, Nebraska, in 2012 by Shikhar Saxena and Abe Schumacher, Milan Laser sold a majority stake to Leonard Green in 2019.

The only investor with a stake of 5% or more is Leonard Green through its affiliates, according to the filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Milan Laser’s Class B and Class C shares will have 10 votes each compared with one apiece for the Class A shares sold in the IPO and Leonard Green will continue to control the company, according to the filing.

Milan Laser is joining a continuing surge of consumer-oriented IPOs in the U.S., which has included beauty and fashion companies. European Wax Center Inc., a waxing-services company backed by investment firm General Atlantic, went public in August. Its shares have risen 59% since then.

Milan Laser had 132 clinics in 23 states, as of June 30, according to its filing.

For the first six months of the year, the company had net income of $10 million on revenue of $72 million, compared with a loss of $2.7 million on $27 million in revenue during the same period in 2020.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Jefferies Financial Group Inc. are advising the offering. Milan Laser plans to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol MLAN. 

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