(Adds IPO raise, other details) Aug 5 (Reuters) - European Wax Center Inc was valued at $1.2 billion after shares of the hair removal salon chain rose 12% in its Nasdaq debut on Thursday. Shares of the company, backed by private equity firm General Atlantic, opened at $19 on Thursday, compared with the initial public offering price of $17. The Plano, Texas-based company sold 10.6 million shares of its Class A common stock in the IPO, raising about $180.2 million. Of the shares sold, roughly 1.68 million shares were offered by existing investors. As of March 27, the company had over 808 locations across 44 states, of which five are corporate-owned centers while the rest are franchisee-operated. It generated over $469 million in system-wide sales in 2020, representing an over 30% drop year-over-year due to temporary center closures caused by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. General Atlantic will continue to have a controlling interest in the company through affiliates and managed accounts, holding about 54.5% of the combined voting power. Morgan Stanley, BofA Securities and Jefferies were the lead underwriters for the offering. Reporting by Sohini Podder and Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.