Argentinian soccer legend Lionel Messi’s clothing brand The Messi Store made its U.S. market debut on Friday, with the stock jumping more than 200%.
MGO Global Inc. (MGOL), the operator of The Messi Store, Argentinian soccer star Lionel Messi’s clothing brand, sold just 1.5 million shares to the public, though trading was halted multiple times during the morning session as investors flocked to Messi’s brand.
The company opened trading on Friday in a $7.5 million initial public offering priced at $5.00. Based out of Florida, MGO was founded in 2018 and began The Messi brand a year later.
Ginny Hilfiger, the youngest sibling of fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger, co-founded MGO Global. The brand is centered on “leveraging” fame into potential retail opportunities.
“We are a performance-driven lifestyle brand portfolio company focused on strategically leveraging the fame, celebrity power and global social media influence of world-class athletes, entertainers, and other cultural icons to create fresh, modern, and compelling product and apparel brands aligned with and inspired by the values, personal styles, and aspirations of our valued brand partners,” the company wrote on its investor relations page.
Messi’s name has likely had an impact on the stock. The 35-year-old led Argentina to its first World Cup victory in 36 years less than a month ago and picked up Golden Ball honors, awarded to the tournament’s best player.
Popularity surrounding Messi has intensified since then. Messi’s Adidas (ADDYY) Argentina jersey sold out and his Instagram post holding up the FIFA World Cup Trophy is now Instagram’s most-liked post ever with more than 74.7 million likes.
However, it’s unclear if Messi’s popularity can help the company financially rebound. MGO reported declining yearly revenues for the first three quarters of 2022 in its S-1 Filing. After posting revenue of $557,641 in the first nine months of 2021, revenues fell to $336,103 for the first nine months of 2022.
“There is substantial doubt regarding our ability to continue as an ongoing concern as a result of our historical recurring losses and negative cash flows from operations, as well as our dependence on private equity and financings,” the company conceded when addressing risks in its filing.
Josh is a reporter and producer for Yahoo Finance.
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