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MYT Netherlands Parent BV MYTE, , parent company to luxury e-commerce retailer Mytheresa Group GmbH, has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to go public.
Mytheresa joins a growing list of e-commerce companies that have filed to go public.
The company intends to list its American Depository Shares (ADSs) on the New York Stock Exchange to trade under the ticker “MYTE.”
Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC are the lead underwriters for the filing.
MyTheresa has set a target of raising $150 million, a placeholder amount that is typically amended.
The company began with a Theresa shop in Munich more than 30 years ago. Mytheresa launched online in 2006.
Mytheresa was acquired by Neiman Marcus in 2014. The luxury department store filed for bankruptcy earlier this year, driving a reorganization at Mytheresa. Neiman Marcus has since emerged from bankruptcy.
MYT Netherlands has done business through German-based Mytheresa Group GmbH, a German limited liability company registered in Munich and a wholly-owned subsidiary of MYT Netherlands. MYT Netherlands was incorporated on May 31, 2019, and on September 7, 2020, MYT Netherlands named its place of effective management in Aschheim, Germany.
“We will take the position that MYT Netherlands is a tax resident of Germany under German law,” the prospectus said.
MYT Holding LLC is a Delaware limited liability company and the sole shareholder of MYT Netherlands prior to the offering.
Earlier this month, Poshmark Inc. POSH, also filed its paperwork to go public.
And ContextLogic Inc. WISH, -2.86%, parent company to the Wish app, began trading in December.
See: Poshmark IPO: 5 things to know about the online marketplace before it goes public
Also: Wish says improvements address customer complaints about delivery and other issues
These companies are going public at a time when a massive shift to online shopping is happening.
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, an increasing number of shoppers were heading online to purchase goods. As COVID-19 shuttered stores and kept shoppers at home, many have turned to their computers and mobile devices to purchase everything from groceries to pajamas to home goods and electronics.
Amazon.com Inc. AMZN, +1.22% and Wayfair Inc. W, -0.88% are among the companies that have seen shares pop in 2020 due to the change in consumer behavior. Amazon stock is up 77.7% for the year to date, and Wayfair has soared 163.6%.
But it’s not just digital-focused retailers capitalizing on the shift. Traditional retailers like Walmart Inc. WMT, -0.60% and Target Corp. TGT, -0.59%, which have both invested in their e-commerce platforms and delivery options, have been snapping up market share as well. Walmart stock is up 22.2% for the year and Target has rallied 37.6%.
The Amplify Online Retail ETF IBUY, -0.11% has skyrocketed 123.4% for the year while the benchmark S&P 500 index SPX, +0.09% has gained 15.6% for the period.
At the same time that COVID-19 is posing an opportunity for some retailers, it has crushed others, driving a year in which bankruptcies for the sector reached a 10-year high.
Don’t miss: Farfetch says luxury shopping has permanently moved online, shares jump
Mytheresa will face competition from other luxury online retailers like FarFetch Ltd. FTCH, +0.56% and Amazon’s Luxury Stores.
In fiscal 2020, Mytheresa surpassed 486,000 active users, with €449.5 million in net sales (US$550.7 million) shipped across 133 countries, according to a letter from Chief Executive Michael Kliger included in the prospectus. Kliger joined Mytheresa in 2015 from eBay Inc. EBAY, +1.31%
Sales rose from €379.1 million in 2019.
Average order value in fiscal 2020 was €600 (about $735), down from €614 in 2019 and €632 in 2018.
The company has existing relationships with big-name labels including Alexander McQueen, Gucci, Prada and Valentino, and operates in eight languages and eight currencies.
In January 2019, the company launched Mytheresa Kids, and in January 2020, Mytheresa Men was introduced.
“Our customers are high income luxury consumers that value quality and experience over price and curation over assortment breadth,” the CEO letter says.
Mytheresa faces many of the risk factors that other retailers have highlighted, including the ability to keep up with fashion trends, managing inventory and the ability to maintain good relationships with customers and the fashion brands it sells. Challenges that arise from COVID-19, regulatory risk from climate change and Brexit are also among the risks.
MYT Netherlands is an emerging growth company, and is allowed to follow reduced reporting and disclosure rules, which the company says may make it “less attractive” to investors. It will remain an emerging growth company until the end of the fiscal year in which annual net sales reach $1.07 billion.
