Photographic Firm Plans Stock Offering
Traditional Industries, a Westlake Village-based firm that markets photographic supplies and photo finishing services, hopes to raise up to $8.3 million by selling stock to the public.
According to a preliminary prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Traditional Industries will offer 758,334 shares and Martin Osman, a consultant to the company, will offer another 41,666 shares to the public. The prospectus said the stock price is expected to be between $9 and $11 a share, which would raise from $6.8 million to $8.3 million for the company.
Traditional Industries sells packages that typically include a camera, a photo album and coupons offering discounts for film processing. The price of the packages ranges from $300 to $800. The company’s main customers are newlyweds and couples with babies who live in small towns that do not have photo finishing facilities.
The Traditional Industries prospectus reported that company revenues rose 45%, to $13.4 million, in the fiscal year ended last June 30. Net income rose less than 1% from the previous year to $810,000.
Although Traditional Industries plans to offer company stock to the public for the first time, it would not be an initial public offering in the usual sense because the firm’s stock already is traded on the over-the-counter market. Traditional Industries, a 9-year-old business, became a public company in June, 1982, when it was merged into an inactive “shell” company that had publicly-traded stock.
Traditional Industries reported that it expects to use proceeds from the offering to pay off debt and to invest in and acquire firms in related fields. The company’s stock is expected to be listed through the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations, or NASDAQ, system under the symbol “TRAD.”
The company’s largest shareholders are Arland D. Dunn, chairman and president, and his wife, Carolyn. Together, they own 886,992 shares, which will be a 45.6% stake when the offering is completed.
