Summary

PE Firm, TowerBrook Capital Partners, acquired J.Jill (JILL) in May 2015 and is now seeking to spin off the company through an IPO, expected to take place on Thursday (3/9). The company plans to raise $175M through its offers of 11.7M shares at a marketed price range of $14 to $16.

All shares are being sold by company insiders and therefore the company will not receive proceeds from the sale. The company has an additional 1.75 million shares over-allotted for its underwriters. If J.Jill prices at the midpoint of its price range, it would command a market cap valuation of $656M.

The underwriters for the offering include: BofA Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Jefferies, Deutsche Bank Securities, RBC Capital Markets, UBS Investment Bank, Wells Fargo Securities, Cowen and Company, Macquarie Capital and SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

Business overview

J.Jill Inc. is a national women’s apparel manufacturer that is focused on affluent women ages 40 to 65. The company offers both direct and retail sales through its multiple sales channels. Direct and retail channels represent 42% and 58% of net sales respectively. It sells its clothing through its catalog, website and in retail stores. The company has 275 stores in 43 states and is based in Quincy-MA.

J.Jill previously traded as a public company until it was bought by Talbots in February 2014 for $517M. The company operated as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Talbots until it was acquired by PE firm Golden Gate Capital for $75M in 2009. Six years later, the company was acquired by PE firm TowerBrook Capital Partners in May 2015 for $400M.

Executive management overview

Paula Bennett has served as the president of J.Jill since Jan. 2008 and as the chief executive officer since July 2009. She has more than 35 years of experience in retail management as well as experience in marketing, buying, apparel merchandising and brand building. She has previously served as the chief executive officer of a number of different companies of the Orchard Brands Corporation. Earlier, she served as the vice president of retail sales at Calvin Klein Corporation. She completed her undergraduate education at the Ohio State University.