Yoshitsu Co., Ltd., which operates “Tokyo Seikatsukan” drugstores and an e-commerce (EC) business for cosmetics, health foods, and daily goods, filed a Registration Statement (Form F-1) with the SEC on August 27, 2021. Its SEC registration was completed on December 23, and it was listed on Nasdaq on January 13, 2022. (See the official HP announcement [here], and refer [here] for materials filed by Yoshitsu.)
Following the Nasdaq IPO of Medirom Healthcare Technologies Inc. in December 2020, this marks the first Nasdaq listing by a Japanese company in approximately one year.
According to its website, Yoshitsu Co., Ltd. had appointed PwC Kyoto as its audit corporation. However, a review of the Form F-1 reveals that the audit was not conducted by PwC, but by Friedman LLP, a U.S. accounting firm. Friedman is ranked approximately 40th in size in the U.S. The case of Medirom, which was audited by the U.S. firm Squar Milner LLP, garnered attention; this case is similar, in that a U.S. accounting firm, rather than a major Japanese audit firm, conducted the audit from overseas.
The bookrunner (lead underwriter) is Univest Securities, LLC, a New York securities firm. As one might guess from the name, it is a Chinese-American securities firm. Its founder, Ying Cui, a graduate of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, established the company in 1993. The legal counsel engaged appears to be Hunter Taubman Fischer & Li LLC, a New York law firm.
It is reported that Yoshitsu Co., Ltd. raised $25 million (approx. 2.8 billion JPY) in this IPO. The company plans to use the proceeds for new store openings, adding franchise stores, brand marketing, improving its distribution center and logistics system, and for talent acquisition and retention.
Following the listing of Yoshitsu Co., Ltd., we have updated the “U.S. Securities Market Guide Part 3: Nasdaq Listing by Japanese Companies (Part 2).” Please take a look at that article as well.
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