Latham Group Inc. had their initial public offering today. Shares soared 43% on the first day of trading. Latham was able to raise $380 million in their initial public offering priced at the bottom of a marketed range.

The stock was initially priced at $19 per share in its IPO on Thursday, but closed at $27.25 in New York trading on Friday, giving it a market cap of $3.3 billion. The shares were sold by Latham for $19 to $21 each.

During the coronavirus pandemic, Latham’s profit and sales increased as property owners focused on home improvements, such as pools. Latham focused on acquiring Narellan and a 28% stake in Premier Pools & Spas.

In an interview, Chief Executive Officer Scott Rajeski said that he believes Latham will outperform the market, which he expects to rise by 10% per year.

“We felt this was a really good time to get our story out there into the public markets and continue to drive with brand awareness of our company,” Rajeski said.

“We are so excited that we are on this journey as we embark on pushing our brand to the homeowner. We created this unique direct to homeowner model to educate them on why a Latham fiberglass pool is the best pool of choice.” said Scott Rajeski “It’s got great economics, it’s got a lower up front cost than traditional products, and we are single handededly driving this material conversion story of fiberglass pools vs other pool types. It’s got an 18% penetration today in North America today,” continued Rajeski

Last year, Latham earned $16 million in net income on revenue of $403 million in net sales, up from $7.5 million in net income on $318 million in sales the previous year. The IPO proceeds will be used to pay down debt and buy back shares, as well as for general corporate purposes, according to the group, which is headquartered in Latham, New York.

Barclays Plc, Bank of America Corp., Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. led the sale. The stock is traded under the symbol SWIM on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.

Featured Photo Credit: Times Union

Fluidra, the global leader in pool and wellness equipment, has confirmed the strong positive prospects for the company in the medium-term. It is expecting to accelerate annual sales growth to above 6% in the coming years, outgrowing the market, driven by market share gains and acquisitions. The company is also set to continue its margin improvement, guiding to expand its EBITDA margin above 50 bps per year.

• The company expects to reach the high end of its guidance range for 2021, with sales growth of 15% and cash EPS growth of 25%.
• Fluidra has committed to become a carbon neutral company in 2027 as one of its main goals within its ESG policy.

During Capital Markets Day Fluidra has reaffirmed its strong cash generation medium term guidance with cash EPS, a key proxy that excludes non-cash items and non-recurring expenses, over 15% per year. This will allow Fluidra to fund value generation initiatives, including both shareholder remuneration and inorganic growth. The company has confirmed a dividend pay-out policy of 50% of cash net profit in the coming years. In terms of M&A, the company still sees significant inorganic growth opportunities in a fragmented industry, which can be leveraged on an excellent track record.

A strong 2021

A strong start to 2021 helped by the global stay-at-home and flight-to-the-suburbs trends, confirms the strong fundamentals of the business and the resilience of the industry.

After CMP’s acquisition, Fluidra raised its 2021 guidance, with Sales growth expectations of 12-15% and cash EPS growth of 17-25%. The company has confirmed today that it expects to reach the high end of the guidance range. Furthermore, Fluidra has confirmed that it expects to reach all the objectives defined in the Strategic Plan 2018-2022 in 2021, one year ahead of the plan.

ESG at the heart of Fluidra’s activity

Fluidra has presented its new comprehensive Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) “Responsibility Blueprint” plan for the period spanning 2020-2026. One element that stands out in it is the introduction of ESG performance based variable remuneration for Fluidra’s managers.

On the environmental front, Fluidra has made the stellar commitment to becoming carbon neutral in 2027 in terms of Scope 1, 2 and by 2050 for Scope 3. Additionally, the firm expects to have more than 80% of products sales classified as ESG friendly in 2035, currently more than 50% of them already meet this criterion.

In the Social category, Fluidra will focus on the well-being of its employees, with a strong commitment to aiming for “zero net wage gap” between men and women by 2024.

The Governance category is also an essential part of the company’s roadmap. Fluidra achieved an ESG rating of 69 out of 100 based on S&P’s analysis and the company is committed to reaching a score of 80 by 2030.

“We are a global industry leader with a unique footprint and value proposition in a structurally attractive industry. We have achieved all our 2022 goals ahead of plan and we will continue growing faster than our sector. Most importantly, ESG has been at the heart of Fluidra’s activity, and our Responsibility Blueprint commitments will reinforce our long-term positive impact” Eloi Planes, Fluidra’s Executive Chairman stated

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Hayward Holdings reported this week that they will be relocating their corporate headquarters to North Carolina. They will be starting the transition this summer and expect to complete the move by the end of next spring.

Hayward Holdings Inc. currently has about 90 employees in it’s Berkley Heights, New Jersey facility. It is now relocating its senior management team, human resources, sales leadership, finance, and other strategic functions to Charlotte, according to the company. A variety of corporate operating positions will also be relocated to an existing manufacturing facility in Clemmons, North Carolina, which currently employs 850 employees.

“This is an important strategic next step for Hayward to create greater synergies and crossfunctional collaboration to improve decision-making, cycle time and customer service.”

KEVIN HOLLERAN – HAYWARD CEO

“It will also result in long-term cost savings that will be redeployed back into the business, put us closer to our largest production facility and create easier access to connect with our customers, distributors and channel partners.” continued Holleran.

Hayward looked at a number of potential relocation locations before deciding that North Carolina was the right choice for the company’s needs. The North Carolina Department of Commerce, the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina, Forsyth County Government, Charlotte Regional Business Alliance, Greater Winston-Salem, Inc., Mecklenburg County, and Forsyth County all contributed to this strategic decision with valuable support and assistance.

All other Hayward locations in the United States or around the world will be unaffected by the corporate relocation from Berkeley Heights. Relocation will begin in the summer of 2021 and be finished in the spring of 2022.

Official Press Release: http://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2021/03/29/2201044/0/en/Hayward-Holdings-Announces-Corporate-Relocation-To-North-Carolina.html