Station Casinos, which was taken private in 2007 and had a long trip through bankruptcy court, has filed for an initial public offering.

The casino operator is controlled by the founding Fertitta family. After the IPO of class A shares, affiliates of Chairman and Chief Executive Frank J. Fertitta III and board member Lorenzo J. Fertitta will hold the substantial majority of Class B stock.

Station, a major player in the Las Vegas "locals market," has also struck development and management agreements with Native American tribes.

In the filing, Station cited 2014 figures for the Las Vegas regional market showing employment growth, home-value appreciation and population growth well above national averages as evidence of an economic recovery in the area.

The company said the market has "favorable economic and market fundamentals" as well as "a stable and highly attractive tax structure."

Station posted revenue of $1.29 billion in 2014, up from $1.26 billion the previous year. It reported net losses for both periods, but saw a 10% increase in adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.

The Fertitta family and Colony Capital LLC led a $5.4 billion buyout of Station in 2007. Hurt by heavy debt and the recession, the company filed for chapter 11 protection in 2009 and emerged in 2011.

In its IPO filing, Station said that since its restructuring, it has reduced total debt by $450 million to $2 billion at June 30, excluding a non-recourse land loan. It has also significantly reduced its debt-to-adjusted Ebitda ratio.

In August, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services revised its outlook for Station to positive from stable, predicting credit measures would continue to improve through 2016.

Station filed to offer as much as $100 million of stock, but that amount a placeholder and likely to change.

Write to Josh Beckerman at josh.beckerman@wsj.com

 

Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 13, 2015 21:35 ET (01:35 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.