Firms Unveil Plans to Sell Shares in IPO-Backed Companies

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 [e-mail]

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