Albertsons Looks To Raise $1.51B In IPO On A $11.61B Valuation

Albertsons Cos., the nation’s second-largest supermarket chain, is preparing for an initial public offering (IPO), according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing.

Founded 80 years ago, the Boise, Idaho, chain has been owned for the past 14 years by private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, according to Supermarket News, which first reported the IPO in March. The listing would allow the New York investor to exit the company.

“When I joined Albertsons from PepsiCo in April of 2019, I found a company that was well-positioned to benefit from changes affecting shopping and eating habits,” President and CEO Vivek Sankaran wrote in the filing to prospective stockholders. “The banners that make up Albertsons have earned customer loyalty over decades. … Since the Safeway merger in 2015, we have successfully completed the integration of our stores, supply chain and technology platforms. … These pillars equip us to win in our sector. I believe we can deliver attractive and improving financial performance, grow market share and increase customer lifetime value through more engaged relationships across our omni-channel platform and loyalty ecosystem.”

With its ‎2,260 stores, Abertsons is second only to Kroger, which has 2,758 locations.

Reuters reported some stockholders are offering 65.8 million shares in the price range of $18 to $20 per share and hope to raise up to $1.32 billion. Its shares will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ACI.

The IPO could fetch as much as $1.51 billion because the IPO’s underwriters, BofA Securities, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan and Citigroup have an option to buy an additional 9.9 million shares, Reuters reported. The company could be valued at $11.61 billion on the high end, based on outstanding shares.

This isn’t the first time Albertsons has attempted to go public.

Supermarket News reported after Albertsons’ merger with Safeway in 2015, investors tried to take the company public, seeking as much as $1.6 billion in an IPO, but backed off amid lackluster market conditions for retail stocks later that year. In 2018, the company attempted to go public with a $24 billion merger deal with Rite Aid Corp. That deal collapsed due to investor pushback that summer.