Company: Mattress Firm Holding Corp.
Sponsors: J.W. Childs Associates, Neuberger Berman Group LLC
Value: $105.5 million in proceeds
Underwriters: Barclays Capital, UBS Investment Bank, and William Blair
Investors flocked to buy shares of specialty retailer Mattress Firm Holding Corp. in its debut on the Nasdaq stock market, bolstering the holdings of its sponsors,
The company made its debut during the small window of opportunity between the Nov. 4 debut of Groupon Inc. and the Thanksgiving weekend. “The Groupon debut turned a lot of attention to the IPO market and these companies were ready to go if they could, but time is running short for companies that want to list before the end of the year,” said IPOdesktop.com analyst Francis Gaskins.
J.W. Childs acquired Houston-based Mattress Holdings Corp. from
Mattress Firm Holding attracted strong investor interest and rose as much as 20 percent on Nasdaq, after pricing its IPO at $19 per share, the high end of its expected range, according to an underwriter. The specialty bedding retailer, which was expecting to price its offering between $17 and $19, sold 5.6 million shares, raising $105.5 million in proceeds. Barclays Capital, UBS Investment Bank, and William Blair acted as underwriters.
“They (Mattress Firm) have a track record of success and increase in sales and earnings, and their after tax margins are consistently 6 or 7 percent which is very good in the specialty retail area,” IPOdesktop.com analyst Gaskins said.
Shares of Mattress Firm Holding closed about 16 percent up at $22 in its first day of trading on Nasdaq. J.W. Childs, which owned 67.7 percent of the company before its IPO, retains a 64.4 percent stake, according to the company’s prospectus. Neuberger Berman had previously owned just less than 13 percent.
(Aman Shah is a correspondent for Reuters in Bangalore; additional reporting by Tanya Agrawal and Steve Bills.)