Actress Jessica Alba’s Honest Co. Seeks $439 Million in IPO

(Bloomberg) -- The Honest Co. and its shareholders are seeking as much as $439 million in a U.S. initial public offering that could give co-founder Jessica Alba a stake valued at about $96 million.The personal care brand will offer 6.5 million shares, while existing investors will sell 19.4 million, according to a filing Monday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The shares are being offered at $14 to $17 each.At the top end of the range, Honest would have a market value of $1.54 billion based on the outstanding shares listed in the filing. Fully diluted to include employee stock options and restricted stock units, that value would rises to about $1.85 billion.Selling shareholders include private equity firm L Catterton, Institutional Venture Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners and General Catalyst, the filing shows.Alba, who owns 5.65 million shares, doesn’t plan to sell any of them in the offering, according to the filing. In a letter to potential IPO investors included in the filing, she traced her interest in healthy products to childhood ailments.Asthma, Allergies“I suffered from chronic illnesses, severe asthma and allergies, leading to long, lonely weeks in the hospital,” Alba said. “There were no lasting solutions for my health issues and by the time I was 10, I became aware of how wellness can define your whole life. That’s never left me.”On top of its baby products like shampoos, the company also sells cosmetics as well as cleaning supplies, a collection that was launched during the coronavirus pandemic.The Los Angeles-based company’s losses shrank as its revenue climbed last year, according to the filing. It had a net loss of $14.5 million on revenue of $301 million in 2020, compared with a loss of $31 million on revenue of $236 million the previous year.“When the Covid-19 pandemic hit and we went into lockdown, people became more aware of their health and what they bring into their homes,” Alba, who has starred in movies such as “Fantastic Four,” said in the letter.The offering is being led by Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Jefferies Financial Group Inc. The shares are expected to begin trading next week on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol HNST.(Updates with possible value of Alba’s stake in first paragraph.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.