By Lauren Pollock
A number of buyout firms unveiled plans late Wednesday to unload
shares in the consumer-focused companies they helped take public,
looking to take advantage of the recent surge in their stock
prices.
Top investors at Burlington Stores Inc., Nielsen NV, Aramark
Holdings Corp. and Mattress Firm Holding Corp. outlined plans to
offer shares. The companies are among a slew of firms taken public
by private-equity giants over the past four years.
All except Nielsen have seen their shares surge this year during
the broader market rally. Nielsen is off about 5%, while Mattress
Firm is at the other end of the spectrum, up 45%.
At Burlington, Bain Capital Partners LLC and other stockholders
outlined plans to offer 8 million shares, valued at more than $350
million as of Wednesday's close.
Bain took Burlington's predecessor company private for $2.1
billion in 2006 but didn't offer any shares in last year's initial
public offering. The firm has trimmed its holdings in recent
months, however, and now has a 44% stake.
Nielsen disclosed plans for an offering of 20 million shares on
behalf of Blackstone Group, Thomas H. Lee Partners, Hellman &
Friedman and AlpInvest Partners, worth $875 million.
The company was acquired in 2006 by a consortium that included
Blackstone and Thomas H. Lee, and it took the company public in
2011. Both shops are still Top 10 holders at the company, which
tracks consumer behavior ranging from what people watch on
television to what they buy in stores.
At Aramark, shareholders including Warburg Pincus, Goldman
Sachs, J.P. Morgan and Thomas H. Lee Partners filed to offer 25
million shares. Those firms, all of which are still top
shareholders at the company, took the company public last year.
Their offering would be worth about $740 million.
Finally, unidentified shareholders at Mattress Firm plan to
offer 2.19 million shares, worth about $140 million. Private-equity
firm J.W. Childs Associates LP holds a 49% stake in the mattress
retailer and has been paring its investment in the company since it
went public in 2011.
Write to Lauren Pollock at lauren.pollock@wsj.com
Access Investor Kit for Nielsen Holdings NV
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=NL0009538479
Access Investor Kit for The Blackstone Group LP
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US09253U1088
Access Investor Kit for The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US38141G1040
Access Investor Kit for JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US46625H1005
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires