Vera Bradley, Inc. plans to go public through an initial public offering of up to $175 million of its common stock. Fort Wayne, Indiana-based Vera Bradley, which was founded in 1982 by two friends, Barbara Bradley Baekgaard and Patricia Miller, is a designer, producer, marketer and retailer of women accessories. Vera Bradley's products include a wide offering of handbags, accessories and travel and leisure items.
In its Form S-1 registration statement with the U.S. securities regulator, the company noted that it applied to list its common stock on the Nasdaq Global Market. The company said that the number of shares to be offered and the price range for the offering have not yet been determined.
Vera Bradley was formed solely for the purpose of reorganizing the corporate structure of Vera Bradley Designs, Inc., which will become its wholly-owned subsidiary. Upon the completion of the reorganization transaction, the only asset of Vera Bradley will be its investment in Vera Bradley Designs, Inc., and all of its operations will be conducted through Vera Bradley Designs, Inc.
For the fiscal quarter ended May 1, 2010, Vera Bradley reported net revenues of $85 million and net income of $16.79 million, compared to $71.4 million and $7.36 million, respectively, for the fiscal quarter ended May 2, 2009.
Over the last five years, the company's net revenues have grown from $120.7 million in calendar year 2005 to $288.9 million in fiscal year 2010, reflecting a compound annual growth rate of 23.9%.
Vera Bradley generates net revenues by selling products through two reportable segments: Indirect and Direct. As of May 1, 2010, company's Indirect business consisted of sales of products to approximately 3,300 independent retailers, and also to select national retailers and third party e-commerce sites.
As of May 1, 2010, company's Direct business consisted of sales of products through 28 full-price stores, one outlet store, verabradley.com, and annual outlet sale in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Vera Bradley said it believes that the market in the U.S. can support at least 300 Vera Bradley full-price stores, and plans to open nine full-price stores and three outlet stores over the course of fiscal year 2011.
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