Rihanna might take Savage X Fenty public.
The pregnant Bajan singer is reportedly working with banks like Goldman Sachs Group and Morgan Stanley on an initial public offering that could value her inclusive intimates brand at $3 billion or more, according to Bloomberg.
The report, published Thursday evening, cited “people familiar with the matter.” A listing could take place this year, one of these people said. Savage X Fenty has yet to make a final decision on an IPO and plans, including timing, may change, Bloomberg noted.
Last winter, the digitally native brand raised $115 million in a Series B funding round led by the LVMH-backed private equity firm L Catterton. Existing investors like Marcy Venture Partners—a venture firm co-founded by Jay-Z—and Avenir also participated. Sunley House Capital, the “crossover fund” of Advent International, joined the round as well. The funding, it said at the time, would fuel its expansion into retail.
In January, Savage X Fenty closed a third, $125 million funding round, this one led by the investment firm Neuberger Berman, according to Crunchbase. L Catterton, Avenir, Sunley House Capital, Advent International and Marcy Venture Partners also participated, as well as new investors LionTree, ACME Capital, Abu Dhabi Growth Fund and Multiply Group. The funds would support the brand’s retail openings, plans to expand overseas and new product line launches.
Savage X Fenty co-president Christiane Pendarvis told Forbes in January that the brand has seen a revenue compound annual growth rate, or CAGR, of 150 percent each year. The label has teamed with Amazon Prime Video to stream a diverse runway spectacle mashing up music and fashion.
A nine-time Grammy winner, the “Umbrella” singer expanded into fashion and beauty a few years ago with her LVMH-backed brands Fenty and Fenty Beauty. In 2018, she launched her own private lingerie brand, Savage X Fenty. Last winter—around the same time Savage X Fenty raked in its Series B funding—Rihanna and LVMH announced that they had jointly decided to pause Fenty’s ready-to-wear activity “pending better conditions.”
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Savage X Fenty, however, appears to be thriving. In January, it launched its first physical store in Las Vegas. Its second location debuted last month in Culver City, Calif. According to the lingerie brand’s website, stores in King of Prussia, Penn., and Houston are slated to open this month. A fifth shop is expected to launch next month in Arlington, Va. outside Washington, D.C.
Each of these retail locations will operate technology from the clothing fit-tech startup Fit:Match. Dubbed the Fit Xperience, the technology relies on lidar-equipped Apple devices—the same ones used to ring up sales and check inventory—to capture a 10- to 15-second augmented-reality-powered body scan of a consumer wearing a lightly lined bra. These scans are compared to Fit:Match’s database, which spits out a size recommendation in about 30 to 45 seconds.