Jan 9 (Reuters) – Furniture store chain Bob’s Discount Furniture filed for an initial public offering in the United States on Friday, as buyout firms are anticipated to bring more of their portfolio companies to the new listings market.
Private equity firms are expected to step up their activity in 2026, as exits remain slow and holding periods extend, creating pressure to return more cash to their investors.
The Bain Capital-backed company plans to sell new shares in the offering and will use the proceeds to pay down debt.
Bob’s reported a net income of $80.7 million on revenue of $1.72 billion in the nine-month fiscal period ended September 28, compared with net income of $49.3 million on revenue of $1.43 billion a year earlier.
Founded by Bob Kaufman and Gene Rosenberg, the company started its journey as a small store in Connecticut in 1991 and has since grown into a coast-to-coast brand with more than 200 locations across the country.
The company, acquired by Bain Capital in 2014, provides a variety of furnishings, including for living rooms, bedrooms, mattresses, dining rooms, occasional tables, lamps and outdoors.
Bob’s procures the majority of its products from suppliers outside the U.S., with Vietnam accounting for nearly 63% of its product cost volume.
The company will list on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “BOBS”. J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley, RBC Capital Markets and UBS Securities are joint book-running managers for the offering.
(Reporting by Arasu Kannagi Basil in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)
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