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HD Supply plans for IPO

Private equity owners will take HD Supply public, nearly six years after buying the industrial distribution company out of Home Depot Inc.

Private equity owners will take HD Supply public, nearly six years after buying the industrial distribution company out of Home Depot Inc. for $8.5 billion, according to a report from Yahoo! News.

Bain Capital, Carlyle Group and Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, the buyout firms who jointly led the deal in 2007, plan to interview investment banks to select underwriters for the proposed initial public offering (IPO). Representatives for Bain and CD&R declined to comment. Carlyle and HD Supply did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

HD Supply is one of the largest distributors of construction, industrial and maintenance supplies in North America and the IPO would be the latest attempt to capitalize on the rebound in the U.S. housing sector.

Home Depot, which maintained a 12.5 percent stake in HD Supply as part of the buyout, declined to comment about the proposed IPO. Home Depot divested HD Supply after building it up into a $12 billion company, but the deal coincided with the credit crisis, and the business suffered from the subsequent downturn in the housing market.

HD Supply's performance has improved significantly in recent years as residential and commercial construction rebounds from the trough of the financial crisis. It reported $7 billion in revenues and more than $500 million in adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for the fiscal year ended January 2012.