Safeway Could Go Public With IPO Just Months After Going Private

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Brokerdealer.com blog update profiles rumors surrounding grocery store chain, Safeway, and the possibility of the chain going public just months after being purchased by AB Acquisition. AB Acquisition took Safeway private and merged it with merged it with Boise, Idaho’s grocery store chain, Albertsons, which AB Acquisition purchased in 2006. The company has been rumored to hire investment bankers to plan an IPO, the company’s spokesman said that the company does not”comment on rumors.” This brokerdealer.com blog update is courtesy of the San Fransico Chronicle’s Kathleen Pender and her article “Just taken private, Safeway may go public again this year: report” with an excerpt below. 

Talk about quick flips: The company that took Safeway private just three months ago is already planning to take it public again this year, according to a CNBC report quoting unidentified sources. If true, it would be Safeway’s third initial public offering.

The report said that AB Acquisition, the holding company that operates Safeway and Albertsons, has hired investment bankers to plan an IPO.

In a deal that closed Jan. 30, an investor group led by private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management bought the Pleasanton grocery chain and merged it with Boise, Idaho’s Albertsons, which it had purchased in 2006.

Private equity firms typically buy public companies and restructure them, which often involves selling or closing underperforming divisions, then resell them to another company or have a fresh IPO. The process typically takes years, not months.

An IPO would almost certainly include both Safeway and Albertsons, which operate as a combined company even though their grocery stores maintain separate names. Cerberus has made many changes at Albertsons including closing and selling many stores and selling off the underlying real estate. It hasn’t had time to do much at Safeway, other than laying off headquarters employees.

To continue reading about the possibility of a Safeway IPO, click here.

 

Laureate Education Inc. Planning $1 Billion IPO

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Brokerdealer.com blog update profiles Laureate Education Inc., the world’s largest for-profit college chain, is planning to launch a $1 billion initial public offering in the United States. Laureate Education was founded in 1998 by Douglas L. Becker as part of Sylvan Learning Systems. In 2007, an investment group lead by Becker bought the Laureate Education section of the company. The company now owns and operates more than 80 institutions, both campus-based and online, in 30 countries, with more than 800,000 students enrolled. 

This blog update profiling Laureate Education’s plans for an IPO is courtesy of BloombergBusiness‘s article, “World’s Biggest For-Profit College Chain Plans $1 Billion IPO”, with an excerpt below:

Laureate Education Inc., the largest for-profit college network in the world, is interviewing banks for a $1 billion initial public offering in the U.S., people with knowledge of the matter said.

The company, whose honorary chancellor is former President Bill Clinton, has been meeting with potential underwriters for an IPO that could value the education juggernaut at about $5 billion, said the people, who asked not to be named discussing private information. The company, based in Baltimore, owns 84 universities, mostly in emerging markets.

Laureate was taken private in a management-led $3.8 billion buyout in 2007, backed by an investor group including KKR & Co. and Citigroup Inc. The company pursued an IPO three years ago, people familiar with the situation said then, which never materialized. It would be the the biggest school chain to go public, edging out Nord Anglia Education Inc., the second-biggest, which raised $350 million last year.

The market climate surrounding for-profit education could be better. The For-Profit Education Index of 13 companies, including DeVry Education Group Inc. and Apollo Education Group Inc., has plunged 55 percent through Wednesday since its peak five years ago. Enrollment has slowed amid recruiting abuses and student debt concerns, leading to a regulatory crackdown.

To continue reading this article on the world’s largest for-profit college chain’s quest for an IPO, click here. To find a brokerdealer to help you get in on this IPO and others like it, click here.

Adultery Website Wants Hook Up With Brokerdealers In An IPO

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Adultery website AshleyMadison attempts for a second IPO

Brokerdealer.com blog update profiles website AshleyMadison, an adultery website seeking to an IPO for the second time. The company has been experiencing a boom in business and wants the funds for marketing and international expansion. This brokerdealer blog update is courtesy of Bloomberg Business’s article, “Adultery Website AshleyMadison Seeks IPO as Demand Booms” with an excerpt below.

AshleyMadison.com, a dating website for cheating spouses, wants to hook up with investors by pursuing an initial public offering in London this year.

The site’s parent company, which failed with a previous IPO attempt in Canada, said on Wednesday it is looking to raise as much as $200 million to exploit booming demand for its services.

AshleyMadison had sales of $115 million last year, an almost fourfold increase on 2009, Christoph Kraemer, its head of international relations said in an interview. It makes money by charging men for credits, which they then use for introductions to women.

Avid Life Media Inc., the Toronto-based holding company that runs AshleyMadison.com along with peers Cougarlife.com and EstablishedMen.com, wants the new funds for marketing and international expansion.

AshleyMadison has 36 million members in 46 countries, Kraemer said, and claims to be the world’s second-largest paid-for Internet dating website, behind Match.com.

While the U.S. accounts for about 50 percent of its business, Kraemer said “Europe is the only region where we have a real chance of doing an IPO” because of its more liberal attitude toward adultery.

“We’re no longer a niche, but it’s been difficult in North America to find the support to go public,” he added.

To continue reading about the success of this adultery website and its second attempt at an IPO, click here.

Today’s IPOs: Fuhget About ‘Em: Here’s A REALLY Hot IPO in the Pipeline

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BrokerDealer.com IPO update looks past today’s hot Initial Public Offerings from crafty company Etsy, (NASDAQ: ETSY), the $300mil+ captured by Virtu Financial, the fast trading electronic market maker (NASDAQ:VIRT) and even the big boost in today’s first day of trading for Party City Holdings (NYSE:PRTY)…

Instead, and thanks to Bloomberg’s Kristen Schweizer uncovering the story, we’d argue that all eyes should really be on a truly Hot IPO still in the pipeline, and portending to bare all to investors via a planned listing on the London Stock Exchange. Here’s the unadulterated coverage from Bloomberg’s 15 April story:

AshleyMadison.com, a dating website for cheating spouses, wants to hook up with investors by pursuing an initial public offering in London this year.

The site’s parent company, which failed with a previous IPO attempt in Canada, said on Wednesday it is looking to raise as much as $200 million to exploit booming demand for its services.

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AshleyMadison CEO Chris Kraemer

AshleyMadison had sales of $115 million last year, an almost fourfold increase on 2009, Christoph Kraemer, its head of international relations said in an interview. It makes money by charging men for credits, which they then use for introductions to women.

Avid Life Media Inc., the Toronto-based holding company that runs AshleyMadison.com along with peers Cougarlife.com and EstablishedMen.com, wants the new funds for marketing and international expansion.

AshleyMadison has 36 million members in 46 countries, Kraemer said, and claims to be the world’s second-largest paid-for Internet dating website, behind Match.com.

While the U.S. accounts for about 50 percent of its business, Kraemer said “Europe is the only region where we have a real chance of doing an IPO” because of its more liberal attitude toward adultery.

“We’re no longer a niche, but it’s been difficult in North America to find the support to go public,” he added.

The company has also set a target that 50-60 percent of its sales will come from Asia by 2020, including Japan, Taiwan and South Korea.

Avid Life Media, whose investors are wealthy North Americans who prefer to remain anonymous, registered 45 percent sales growth last year and a profit margin between 20 percent and 25 percent, according to Kraemer, who said the company estimates its value at $1 billion.

It attempted a share sale in Toronto in 2010 but investor appetite wasn’t there, he said. “Right now our focus is to do our homework on London. It’s our priority and our second attempt at IPOing has to go well. We don’t want to repeat what happened the first time around.”

The entire story is bared via this direct link to Bloomberg LP uncoverag

Etsy Vendors Will Be Able To Invest In Themselves

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Brokerdealer.com’s blog update continues coverage of the Etsy IPO. On Thursday, Etsy’s IPO will finally be launched, they have unique plan to target small investors and focus on fewer big investors as part of its plan for their IPO and now it has been release that Etsy’s vendors will be able to invest in themselves. Etsy has set aside 5% of shares for Etsy vendors to purchase through a Morgan Stanley program. The vendors can buy between $100-$2,500 worth of Etsy stocks, how much vendors get will ultimately depend on the pricing and demand of Etsy’s IPO. This brokerdealer.com blog update is courtesy of the Wall Street Journal’s article, “Etsy Vendors to Get a Piece of IPO“, with an excerpt below. 

Jeni Sandberg usually deals in vintage and collectible items, not in hot new stocks. Still, the home-based art appraiser and consultant plans to take a stake in Etsy Inc. when shares in the online marketplace go public this week.

Ms. Sandberg, who lives in Raleigh, N.C., has been a vendor on Etsy for five years, earning income from her sales there and from work as an art consultant. A former specialist at auction house Christie’s, she manages her own investments and is “by no means a massive player in the financial market.”

When it comes to initial public offerings of stock, “you’re always told, ‘You can’t participate. You’re not part of a financial syndicate. Go away, little person,’” she said.

Etsy, whose IPO is expected to price Wednesday and begin trading Thursday, sought to remedy that lack of access for its vendors and other small investors with a program that gives them the opportunity to buy as much as $2,500 in Etsy stock just before its public float, which aims to raise as much as $267 million. Ms. Sandberg plans to claim her full allotment. “This, I want to do,” she said.

To read the full article from the Wall Street Journal, click here.