KKR-backed BrightSpring prices IPO below range to raise $633 mln (updated)
26/01/2024 01:44
(Recasts paragraph 1, adds details on BrightSpring's IPO
throughout)
By Echo Wang
NEW YORK, Jan 25 (Reuters) - BrightSpring Health
Services, which is backed by private equity firm KKR & Co
KKR.N , on Thursday priced its initial public offering below
its targeted range to raise $633 million.
BrightSpring, which was aiming to price its offering between
$15 and $18 apiece, sold about 53.3 million shares at $13 per
share. The IPO values BrightSpring at $2.2 billion.
BrightSpring's underwhelming offering could hamper a
potential recovery in the market for U.S. IPOs, which was
starting to show early signs of a rebound, with some
high-profile names expected to go public in the coming weeks.
Amer Sports Inc, the Helsinki-based maker of Wilson tennis
rackets and Arc'teryx outdoor clothing, said in a filing on
Monday that it is aiming to raise as much as $1.8 billion in its
IPO next week.
BrightSpring, a community-based healthcare services firm
that focuses on treating patients with complex or chronic
medical conditions, previously attempted to go public but those
efforts were abandoned in November 2022 due to adverse market
conditions caused by the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary policy
tightening.
The Louisville, Kentucky-based company is concurrently
raising another $400 million from the sale of a three-year
mandatory security at a fixed price of $50 each, according to
its filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
BrightSpring was sold to KKR in a $1.32 billion deal in
2019, with an affiliate of drugstore chain operator Walgreens
Boots Alliance WBA.O taking a minority stake.
The company provides home health, rehab and hospice care to
its patients who require frequent services over long periods of
time. It also operates 180 pharmacies across the country.
Goldman Sachs, KKR, Jefferies Financial, Morgan Stanley, UBS
Group, Bank of America, Guggenheim Securities and Leerink
Partners, are the lead underwriters for the offering.
BrightSpring's shares will begin trading on Friday on the
Nasdaq under the symbol BTSG.
(Reporting by Echo Wang in New York; Editing by Anirban Sen and
Edwina Gibbs)
((Anirban.Sen@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter: @asenjourno; Reuters
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