Pacific Sunwear to Go Public

Pacific Sunwear of California Inc., a chain of surf wear shops, has filed for an initial stock offering that could raise nearly $14.5 million.

Founding stockholders of the 60-store chain, based in Santa Ana, want to offer 1.8 million common shares to the public and use the proceeds to finance the opening of 18 to 20 additional stores and to pay for remodeling four others this year. The shares are expected to sell for between $10.50 and $12.50 each.

“We see ourselves as lifestyle stores for young men,” President Michael Rayden said last year. The stores are mostly in shopping malls in California, Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Nevada, New Jersey and Washington.

For the 39 weeks ended Nov. 1, the company had net income of $1.9 million, up from a loss of $979,000 for the same period a year earlier. Sales were $32 million, up 33% from $24 million during the same period in the previous year.

Robertson, Stephens & Co. and Alex. Brown & Sons Inc. will underwrite the sale.

The largest-selling shareholders include the St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance Co. of St. Paul, Minn., which is selling 136,432 shares and reducing its stake in the company to 11.2%. The next largest is the Sprout Group of Menlo Park, which is selling 116,269 shares, which would reduce its stake to 13%.