BrightSpring Health Services readies initial public offering at proposed $3B valuation

By Steve Gelsi

KKR and Walgreen-backed home care specialist readies its debut; Reddit may also float an IPO in March.

KKR & Co. Inc.-backed home health care service provider BrightSpring Health Service Inc. is readying its stock market debut in a further sign of a thaw in the IPO market.

The Louisville, Ky.-based company plans to offer 53.3 million shares at an estimated price range of $15 to $18 a share for trading under the symbol BTSG (BTSG) on the Nasdaq, according to a filing on Wednesday.

It's the latest sign of a pick-up in initial public offerings after one of the quietest periods in recent years after deal fizzled last year amid geopolitical uncertainty, headwinds from inflation and turmoil in the banking sector.

Both BrightSpring and last week's debut of home builder Smith Douglas Homes Corp. come from more well-established, stable businesses, as opposed to the technology unicorns that have caught Wall Street's fancy in the past.

However, more high-flying companies may be ready to dive in, as social media platform Reddit is reportedly eyeing an IPO in March, according to Reuters. The San Francisco company is valued at about $10 billion, said the report, which cited people familiar with the deal.

Also read: Reddit, Shein and Stripe may lead a revived IPO market in 2024

Based on the midpoint of the estimate $15 to $18 price range, the IPO will raise about $880 million with 15 underwriters led by Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, KKR, Jefferies, Morgan Stanley, UBS Investment Bank, BofA Securities, Guggenheim Securities and Leerink Partners.

With 179.19 million shares outstanding for the company including the underwriters' overallotment, BrightSpring will go public with a market capitalization of about $3 billion.

BrightSpring reported a net loss of $149.63 million and revenue of $6.45 billion in the nine months ended Sept. 30, versus net income of $2.46 million and revenue of $5.75 billion in the year-ago period.

BrightSpring withdrew its IPO on November 23, 2022 after an earlier IPO filing in October of 2021.

The company is backed by private-equity firm KKR & Co. Inc. (KKR) as well as drug-store giant Walgreen Boost Alliance Inc. (WBA), according to its IPO prospectus.

KKR owns 69% of the company and Walgreen has about 34.9%.

The two shareholders will continue to own about 67.9% of the company after it goes public.

The company traces its roots back to 1974. In 2017, it was incorporated as Phoenix Parent Holdings Inc. as part of an acquisition of PharMerica Corp. in 2017 by Walgreen and KKR. In 2021, the company changed its name to BrightSpring Health Services.

The IPO comes after the successful liftoff of Smith Douglas Homes Corp. (SDHC) on Jan. 11 at a price of $21 a share. The stock closed at $23.94 on Wednesday, down 0.9%.

CG Oncology sets IPO price range

CG Oncology on Thursday said it plans to offer 11.8 million shares at an estimated price range of $16 to $18 a share in its upcoming IPO with underwriters Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Cantor LifeSci Capital.

Based on the midpoint of the range, the IPO will raise $200.6 million.

With 57.05 million shares outstanding including the underwriters over-allotment, the company is seeking a valuation of about $970 million based on a $17 IPO price.

CG Oncology is a late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company that's developing bladder cancer drugs including its product candidate, cretostimogene.

This story was updated to include overallotment shares in BrightSpring's valuation.

-Steve Gelsi

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01-19-24 1150ET

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