Second PE-Backed Dollar Store Files For IPO

Bain Capital-backed Dollarama Inc., a Canadian chain of dollar stores, on Sept. 11 filed to go public on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

The filing marks the latest in a string of IPOs initiated by private equity firms, often designed to help repay debt, and marks the second IPO filing for a buyout-backed dollar store chain. In August Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. announced it would seek to raise as much as $750 million by taking Dollar General Corp. public.

Bain Capital expects to raise C$250 million ($232 million) with the public sale of stock in the Montreal-based chain, which sells products for less than C$2. RBC Capital Markets, CIBC World Markets and Credit Suisse Securities are underwriting the offering. The company plans to use about C$70 million of proceeds to repay promissory notes, C$38 million to repay in full a term loan, and the majority of the rest of the proceeds to pay down other notes, according to Reuters.

The Boston buyout shop invested about $364 million to buy an 80 percent stake in the company in 2004 in a deal valued at C$1.05 billion ($885 million), according to CapitalIQ.

Other recent examples of buyout shops bringing companies public in part to alleviate their debt loads include the IPO of health care company Emdeon, backed by General Atlantic and Hellman & Friedman. The company raised $367 million in its public market debut, and around $200 million of the offering is slated to service the company’s $800 million debt load. Similarly, KKR -backed semiconductor company Avago Technologies raised $648 million in its recent offering, about 45 percent of which, or $290 million, will be used to pay back some $704 million in debt, according to a regulatory filing.

Founded in 1992, Dollarama has 12,371 employees and about 585 stores in Canada. Executives have plans to open 30 to 40 new stores a year for the foreseeable future, according to Reuters.