US Foods Breaks $1B In IPO, Closes First Day Up 8.3% by PitchBook
The last days of the Great PE-backed IPO Drought of 2016 may be upon us. US Foods (NYSE: USFD), a portfolio company of Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and KKR, raised $1.02 billion in its offering, selling shares at $23 apiece. The American foodservice business saw its stock price climb to $24.91 by end-of-day Thursday, up 8.3%—a strong performance that could push into action some of the PE-backed companies currently waiting in IPO purgatory.
Until Thursday—when Cotiviti (NYSE: COTV) and GMS (NYSE: GMS) joined US Foods on the public markets—just five U.S. PE-backed companies had held IPOs this year, according to the PitchBook Platform, the slowest pace since 2008. And the chill has extended well beyond PE, with only 25 U.S. IPOs of any kind before this week. US Foods is just the second to top $1 billion, narrowly trailing the $1.05 billion raised by MGM Growth Properties (NYSE: MGP) in April for the title of 2016’s most lucrative offering.
