Presidio Planning to File for IPO as Soon as This Week Source

Presidio Holdings Inc. plans to file for an initial public offering as soon as this week, moving the information-technology services firm closer to a public debut expected to value it at as much as $3 billion, including debt, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The New York company tapped J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. to lead the offering, which would likely take place next year, the person said.

Presidio, owned by private-equity firm Apollo Global Management LLC, provides technology consulting, purchasing and support services to businesses. Apollo bought the company from American Securities LLC, another private-equity firm, in February 2015 and has since helped it grow through acquisitions.

A Presidio debut would come during the slowest IPO market since the financial crisis. So far this year, 104 companies have gone public in the U.S. raising $22 billion, the lowest dollar volume in any comparable period since 2003, according to Dealogic.

It has been a similar story for companies backed by private-equity firms, which sold a record $34.2 billion worth of stock in U.S. IPOs in 2014 but just $9.7 billion so far this year. Some big buyout firms' portfolios have thinned, leaving them with less to sell. Some have opted to sell companies to their peers or corporate buyers, both of which have large amounts of cash to invest.

Market participants say public listings could pick up next year, in part due to the strong share performance of companies that have gone public recently. Shares of technology companies that went public this year have popped an average 30% on their first day of trading, according to Dealogic.

Stock investors have warmed to IT service providers, like Presidio. Shares of CDW Corp. are up about 15% over the past year, while Computer Sciences Corp.'s stock has more than doubled.

Maureen Farrell contributed to this article.

Write to Matt Jarzemsky at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 21, 2016 18:55 ET (23:55 GMT)

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