STJ Advisors advised on the JPY 3.75bn (EUR 25m) IPO of Izawa Towels on the Tokyo Stock Exchange
2025
Izawa Towel is a leading towel manufacturer in Japan with over 50 years of experience. It produces ODM products for numerous brands and major companies, handling all aspects of towel production.
STJ’s Key Contributions
· Process Management: Led early-stage planning, advised on bank selection, and structured the IPO timeline.
· Equity Story & Valuation: Crafted a compelling narrative for a fabless towel business; repositioned valuation using ROIC and broader comps; trained CEO for investor meetings and Q&A.
· Marketing & Execution: Directed investor targeting, bookbuilding, and pricing strategy; ensured strong demand and top-range pricing.
Transaction Highlights
· Izawa Towel is owned by JAFCO (75% pre-IPO / 17.5% post-IPO) and Izawa Capital Partners (25%).
· The prospectus price was set during a period of volatility as markets recovered from "Liberation Day". The level took into consideration the market environment and investor feedback through multiple IMs.
· During the roadshow, meetings were held mainly in Japan, and very positive feedback was received from investors. Reflecting these results, the indicative range was set at an upward extension to approximately 7%, and the number of shares offering and the institutional investor portion were increased.
· During bookbuilding, demand mainly from the LOs interviewed built up without price sensitivity, and as a result, the book multiple was over 100x*4 overall and fully covered multiple times by Long Only investors (retail: over 150x*4 / 11x*5, institutional: over 18x), with pricing at the upper limit.
· The institutional investor portion was also increased at the time of pricing, successfully sending a message of strong demand to the market.
· The shares for institutional investors were allocated 98% to investors who had met the company with a strong weighting to Long Only investors.
· The opening price was 2.0% above the IPO price, JPY 765. and the share price was generally steady at a level above the IPO price at the listing day.
