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Ready, set, IPO: PwC helps a retailer dramatically speed up its public debut
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  • March 16, 2023

As a private equity-owned company and a leader in online consumer retail, PwC’s client was accustomed to high demands and rapid change. The retail company sought to go public and access the public markets as soon as possible after experiencing extraordinary growth and positive macroeconomic trends — even prior to completing an IPO readiness assessment.

CLIENT

Online consumer retailer

INDUSTRY

Consumer markets
Private Equity

FEATURING

Capital markets accounting advisory services

 

Successful first IPO filing was executed in less than six weeks from initial decision to go public

Streamlined finance operations while enhancing security, controls and IT functions in preparation to meet public company requirements

Identified strategic areas of focus for alternative revenue streams and production channels to drive continued growth

Implemented enterprise-wide automations and dashboard reporting to help improve processes and gain data-backed actionable insights

What sparked the need for change?

Preparing to go public is always challenging. Preparing to operate as a public company, while simultaneously racing to meet an ambitious IPO timeline is borderline impossible — without the right advisors. To achieve its goal, the company’s IPO filing process and business transformation had to take place at the same time. This was a difficult feat to execute, combined with complex accounting challenges, a nontraditional working group of private equity owners and two external auditors, and geographical differences that impacted scheduling.

What solution did the teams unlock by working together?

While addressing immediate filing needs, PwC helped accelerate the retailer’s approach to identifying gaps in its capabilities and current operating state. The resulting assessment outlined the tasks needed to achieve public company readiness. It also highlighted key areas of opportunity that could help achieve its financial and operational growth goals.

Where did tech innovation meet human ingenuity?

After helping to execute the first IPO filing in less than six weeks, PwC hosted workshops and brought representatives from its cross-disciplinary teams to help craft actionable paths forward to help drive value beyond the IPO execution. This included Workday and Oracle cloud implementations, an internal audit, cyber due diligence, tax advisory, valuations and strategic planning for new business programs.

What was the real-world impact of approaching things differently?

As the transformation into a public company took place, the insights derived during the workshop exercises laid a foundation for future growth. PwC’s Deals; Tax Consulting; Cloud and Digital; Transformation; and Cyber, Risk and Regulatory teams collaborated with the company to help solve complex problems and design more efficient operations. As a result, the retailer built new ways of working — inclusive of its new automation and cloud technology capabilities — that will help increase the speed and accuracy of its financial processes and scale the business.

ACCELERATE A CONFIDENT PUBLIC COMPANY JOURNEY THAT BUILDS LASTING VALUE

Learn more about PwC’s IPO Services.

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Contact us

Mike Bellin

IPO Services Leader, PwC US

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Eric Watson

Partner, PwC US

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