The company hopes to raise upwards of $7.5 million from its initial public offering on the heels of the GOAT’s 2022 World Cup triumph with Argentina.
MGO Global, the company that manages international soccer superstar Lionel Messi‘s clothing and lifestyle brand, is gearing up for a Nasdaq IPO on Jan. 13 to capitalize on the Argentina legend’s 2022 World Cup championship.
The offering was originally slated for Jan. 6, putting it in position to be the first Nasdaq IPO of 2023, but has since been rescheduled.
The company was co-founded in 2018 by Argentine entrepreneur Maximiliano Ojeda and Tommy Hilfiger’s sister, Ginny, and lists Messi — the Paris Saint-Germain forward, newly-minted World Cup winner, and all-around footballing GOAT — as its only client. While Messi himself is notably not a stakeholder in the business, the 35-year-old’s contract with MGO guarantees 12% of sales or a minimum of $4.2 million over three years, per a 2021 trademark license agreement.
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MGO Global appropriately picked MGOL as its Nasdaq stock ticker symbol and plans to sell 1.5 million shares at $5 a pop to raise $7.5 million at a $66 million valuation.
The company said in its SEC filing that it has yet to turn a profit, nor is it negotiating or currently in possession of any probable agreements to add additional assets to the Lionel Messi brand at this time. Adidas also holds the rights to Messi footwear and jerseys, but MGO is the only company that can create and sell Messi-branded clothing and accessories until the licensing agreement contract expires in late 2024.
MGO filed an $8 million IPO in 2022 backed by Boustead and Sutter Securities, putting the entire company’s fortunes behind Messi’s health and all-time great prowess on the pitch. He remains an insanely popular figure, with an Instagram post from last month depicting him lifting the World Cup garnering 74.5 million likes, making it the most-liked social media post in history across any platform.
Naturally, MGO Global is betting on the Messi train to keep on chugging in the years to come, including far, far beyond the end of his playing days.
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