IPO Watch: Express Plans to Raise $200M
NEW YORK (
) -- Apparel retailer Express is planning an initial public offering that it hopes could be worth as much as $200 million.
Express Parent
did not provide a date for when it would go public or how many shares it will offer.
The company currently has 573 stores with plans to open 30 new locations over the next five years.
Express plans to use proceeds from the deal to pay down debt that is due in 2015, as well as unpaid interest and prepayment penalties.
As of Oct. 31, 2009, Express had about $416.9 million in outstanding debt.
Private-equity firm Golden Gate Private Equity acquired its 75% stake in the chain from
Limited Brands
(LTD)
in 2007 for $602 million.
The market has shown a lukewarm reception to IPOs since the beginning of the year. Last week the highly-anticipated
QuinStreet
(QNST) - Get Report
priced 10 million shares for $15 each to raise $140 million. This was below its expected range of $17 to $19 a piece.
QuinStreet competes with
Yahoo
(YHOO)
and
(GOOG) - Get Report
to sell advertising.
On Tuesday, in its second day of trading, QuinStreet is changing hands at $14.55, on a volume of 120,000 shares two hours into the trading day.
Terreno Realty
(TRNO) - Get Report
,
Piedmont Office Realty Trust
(PDM) - Get Report
and
Solar Capital
(SLRC) - Get Report
, also priced their IPOs below expectations.
GameFly
, the
Netflix
(NFLX) - Get Report
of video game rentals, also filed a $50 million IPO last Wednesday.
--Reported by Jeanine Poggi in New York.
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