Cerberus-backed Albertsons weighing $19B IPO
January 14, 2020
Albertsons has made revisions to IPO documents filed secretly with the SEC, as the grocery chain contemplates whether to go public in an offering that could value it at some $19 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal. The company will now reportedly decide in the coming weeks if it will proceed or wait longer in hopes of receiving a more lucrative valuation. Based in Boise, Idaho, Albertsons produced roughly $47 billion in net sales and revenue for the 40 weeks ended Nov. 30.
If the company does hit the public markets, it would mark the end of a long saga for PE firm Cerberus Capital Management, which originally invested in Albertsons in 2006, and then, alongside co-investors, bought out the rest of the business from Supervalu in 2013. Two years later, Cerberus backed the $9.2 billion merger of Albertsons and Safeway. It then reportedly tried to take the combined company public through an IPO, but pulled the offering amid weak demand. In 2018, Albertsons attempted another public debut, this time through a $24 billion merger with Rite Aid, but stockholders voted to nix the transaction.
Related read: Private equity's IPO pipeline is filling up after a slow 2019
If the company does hit the public markets, it would mark the end of a long saga for PE firm Cerberus Capital Management, which originally invested in Albertsons in 2006, and then, alongside co-investors, bought out the rest of the business from Supervalu in 2013. Two years later, Cerberus backed the $9.2 billion merger of Albertsons and Safeway. It then reportedly tried to take the combined company public through an IPO, but pulled the offering amid weak demand. In 2018, Albertsons attempted another public debut, this time through a $24 billion merger with Rite Aid, but stockholders voted to nix the transaction.
Related read: Private equity's IPO pipeline is filling up after a slow 2019