Canada Goose fluffs up the market by revealing plans for $100m listing
High-end US coat maker Canada Goose has announced plans to raise $100m by listing on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges.
The listing will give the firm, backed by Bain Capital, the ability to pay down debt and expand sales in the US.
And in what could be seen as a stroke of marketing genius, the firm has been allotted the ticker "GOOS".
Bain, founded by former US presidential candidate Mitt Romney, landed a 70 per cent slice of Canada Goose in 2013. And if investors are peckish for more, the listing could be adjusted to meet additional investor demand.
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Canada Goose started life as Toronto firm Metro Sportswear, founded by Sam Tick in 1957. The firm specialised in essentials for the average Canadian in the 1950s, namely "woollen vests, raincoats and snowmobile suits".
Not everyone gets on with their in-laws but Tick was impressed by the man who married his daughter as David Reiss joined the firm in the 1970s and masterminded what is now one of the firm's trademark items – down jackets.
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Reiss established the brand Snow Goose, which was later to become Canada Goose and the iconic "big red" jackets – some coats designed by the firm now retail for around £900.
Canada Goose chief executive Dani Reiss is the grandson of founder Sam Tick (Source: Getty)
In 1982, Laurie Skreslet became the first Canadian to climb Mount Everest. And guess what…? Yep, he was wearing one of Canada Goose's custom-designed jackets to keep out the chilly Himalayan blasts.
In 2001, Reiss passed the baton of running the firm down to his son Dani who became chief executive at the age of 27 – a role he holds to this day.