According to media reports, the Canadian online shoe retailer Shoes.com plans to raise between $25 million and $50 million from private equity to facilitate an initial public offering. The company's annual revenue reached 235 million Canadian dollars last year, marking a significant growth of nearly threefold. The e-commerce environment in Canada is highly favorable, and investors immigrating to Canada may consider starting an e-commerce business.
Shoes.com is the largest online footwear retailer in Canada, with competitors including Zappos, Shoebuy, and Amazon. In the U.S. market, Shoes.com is second only to Amazon's Zappos. Recently, CEO Roger Hardy revealed that Shoes.com will raise funds from existing investors by March 1, 2016. It is understood that Shoes.com had an estimated valuation of $320 million in May 2015, when it secured $45 million in financing, and is projected to reach 400 million Canadian dollars in 2016.
It is reported that Shoes.com originally planned to go public by the end of 2016, but due to unfavorable market conditions, this has been delayed until 2017. Hardy noted that the U.S. IPO market is currently at its worst since the economic crisis. However, the IPO market is neutral, and going public remains the company's most important future goal.