More Buyout Firms Tap Public Market
Internet wunderkinds aren't the only ones rushing to cash in on the rejuvenated IPO market. Buyout kingpins are lining up, too.</br></br>But rather than launching initial public stock offerings of the latest Web-site fad, the buyout pros are bringing out IPOs in less-trendy companies -- the ones they bought as investments and now want to cash out of. Last week, Henry Kravis of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts took public Boyds Collection, a maker of collectible kitsch, in an offering that valued his firm's investment at four times what it paid a year ago.</br></br>Bully for Mr. Kravis. But are the buyouts-turned-IPOs good for today's IPO-hungry investors? There's a mixed record there.</br></br>What's certain is that buyout firms like KKR, which were sidelined from doing IPOs by the market's turmoil late last year, are lining up at the reopened IPO window, suggesting that public-market pricing is rich.</br></br>Texas Pacific Group took public Del Monte Foods last month, six months after shelving the offering because of unfavorable markets. It recently filed to bring public Ducati Motor Holding, a venerable Italian motorcycle maker, on stock exchanges in Milan and New York.