Olaplex Holdings Inc’s shares opened more than 19% above their offer price in a strong market debut on Thursday, giving the hair products maker a market capitalization of $16.2 billion. Stock of the company, owned by private equity firm Advent International, opened at $25 compared with their initial public offering (IPO) price of $21 per share. “The visibility we get through the IPO will help in brand building and brand awareness...with the end consumer,” President and Chief Executive Officer JuE Wong said. Olaplex’s products, which include shampoos, conditioners, treatments and oils, are popularly used for treating damaged hair and priced at around $28 each, with the bundles running up to as much as $196. “It (IPO) will also help us to retain and recruit good talent,” Wong said. The company, founded in 2014 in a garage in California, sells its products in over 100 countries. LVMH-owned beauty chain Sephora, professional beauty products distributors SalonCentric and Sally Beauty Holding Inc’s Beauty Systems Group are among Olaplex’s biggest customers. Certain existing shareholders of Olaplex sold 73.7 million shares in the company’s upsized IPO to raise $1.55 billion. The offering was priced above an earlier projected price range of $17 to $19 per share. The company did not offer any shares in the IPO and will not receive any proceeds from it. Advent, which acquired Olaplex in 2019, owns about 79.6% of the combined voting power in the company after the offering through investment funds associated with it. Goldman Sachs & Co, J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley and Barclays were the lead underwriters for the IPO.