Want to buy stock in Albertsons? Time to pay attention. Here’s the likely share price
Albertsons Cos. plans to offer the public stock in the Boise grocery chain for between $18 and $20 per share, according to a filing Thursday.
Sales could begin as soon as next week, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing “people familiar with the matter.”
The grocery chain said it plans to sell 65.8 million of its 479 million shares, according to the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Albertsons has been controlled since 2006 by Cerberus Capital Management, a New York private equity firm, and several real estate investment partners.
The sellers could collect as much as $1.3 billion, Barrons reported. After the stock sale, the investors will still own between 73% and 75% of Albertsons’ common stock, with Cerberus having 31.9%, according to the filing. Cerberus’s shares are controlled by the company’s cofounder and co-CEO, Stephen A. Feinberg.
Klaff Realty, Lubert-Adler Management and Schottenstein Stores Corp. will each own about 11.7%, and Kimco Realty Corp. will own about 8%.
Boise-based Albertsons, Idaho’s largest company, will list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the “ACI” symbol.
The stock sale won’t earn Albertsons any money. The proceeds will go to the selling stockholders. Underwriters have an option to buy 9.9 million shares, which could be resold to some of the company’s directors officers, employees and associates.
It’s actually the second time Cerberus has taken this step. Plans for an IPO were announced five years ago, but Albertsons withdrew that offering to await more favorable market conditions.
In 2018, Albertsons planned once again to go public after agreeing to buy most of drugstore chain Rite Aid Corp. But the companies abandoned their $24 billion merger after one of Rite Aid’s largest investors criticized the deal as bad for Rite Aid shareholders. The IPO was shelved again.
Earlier this month, Albertsons reported same-store sales increased 30% in the first 12 weeks of its fiscal year that began March 1, boosted by sales during the coronavirus pandemic.
Albertsons employs 270,000 people and operates 2,252 stores in 34 states and the District of Columbia. The company owns 20 chains, including Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco and Haggen. It also owns the Plated meal-kit company.
This story was originally published June 18, 2020 at 4:51 PM with the headline "Want to buy stock in Albertsons? Time to pay attention. Here’s the likely share price."
