Jeans maker Levi Strauss files for IPO to return to public markets

(Reuters) - Jeans maker Levi Strauss & Co on Wednesday filed documents to list itself on the New York Stock Exchange, as the 145-year old company seeks to return to the public markets after more than three decades.

The company said it intends to raise $100 million in net proceeds and list under the "LEVI" symbol. The size of the IPO stated in preliminary IPO filings is a placeholder used to calculate registration fees. The final size of the IPO could be different.

The company first went public in 1971, but descendants of founder Levi Strauss took the company private in 1984.

In its latest quarterly report, the company said sales rose nearly 9 percent to $1.59 billion.

Levi Strauss sells in products in over 50,000 retail locations, including about 3,000 standalone stores and shops-in-shops.

The company's biggest shareholder is Mimi Haas and Margaret Haas, descendants of Levi Strauss.

Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, BofA Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley are part of a 12-member underwriting team handling the IPO.

(Reporting by Aparajita Saxena, Bharath Manjesh in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)