VANCOUVER -- Aritzia's shares have been priced at $16, with at least 25 million expected to be sold by its current investors through an initial public offering totalling at least $400 million -- more than estimated in September.

The IPO was ten times oversubscribed, sources familiar with the matter told BNN, even though the retailer is offering subordinate-voting shares. Aritzia’s two main shareholders, Boston-based Berkshire Partners and Artizia founder Brian Hill, will retain about 97 per cent of the voting power through multiple-vote shares, which aren’t part of the IPO.

Aritzia has defended the dual-class share structure, saying that it would help prevent a hostile takeover that could derail the company’s growth plans, sources told BNN.

Stocks with unequal voting rights – which have been used at Canadian companies like Bombardier and Alimentation Couche-Tard – have been criticized for allowing families to control companies with only a minority stake. 

“We’ve gone through this, the most famous case is Magna back some years ago with Frank Stronach,” said Gordon Reid, president and CEO of Goodreid Investment Counsel, when asked about Aritzia’s IPO in an interview with BNN. 

“I would like to move on from this, but obviously our securities legislation hasn’t advanced to a point where we are.”

Vancouver-based Aritzia -- which has a network of 75 stores and an online business -- won't get any of the money but its current shareholders are in line to receive about $380 million after $20 million in fees paid to the underwriters.

The IPO is expected to close Oct. 3. The shares will trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol ATZ.

Aritzia's final prospectus filing late Monday indicates that at least 25 million of the shares will be sold through the IPO and the underwriters have the option for a further 15 per cent -- up to 3.75 million shares -- at the same price within 30 days.

That's more than the previous estimate for the number of shares that would be sold by Berkshire Partners and Aritzia founder Brian Hill.

A Sept. 12 filing indicated that its current shareholders would offer up to 23 million subordinate shares, including overallotment options, and the stock would be priced at between $14 and $16 per share.

The final prospectus says a total of $460 million worth of stock could be sold if the maximum 28.75 million shares are taken up including overallotment options, netting the current shareholders $437 million and the underwriters $23 million in fees.

The Hill family opened its first store in Vancouver in 1984. The Hill shareholders will retain 41 per cent of the voting power after the IPO, while Berkshire will have 55.6 per cent of the voting power.

Aritzia's filing on Monday says it aims to grow annual revenue to between $1.1 billion and $1.2 billion by the end of its 2021 financial year -- more than double the $542.4 million in its 2016 financial year.

The company plans to open 25 to 30 new stores by 2021, including 10 over the next two years.

The retailer’s offering comes at a “tough” time in the IPO market, said Goodreid Investment Counsel’s Reid.

 “I would caution that in a market of short supply, there might be undue demand for something like Aritzia,” Reid told BNN.

“[I recommend] a measured approach to issues like this – trying to take an unemotional view of the fundamentals of the company as opposed to trying to scramble to get whatever piece you can because everybody else is in line.”

With files from BNN’s Paige Ellis