05.02.11
Following through with its initial public offering (IPO), shares of GNC Holdings, Inc., Pittsburgh, PA, rose April 1 after debuting as a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). That day, according to Reuters: “GNC shares gained 4.7%, finishing their first day of trading on NYSE at $16.75 after pricing at $16 in the company’s third attempt at a public offering.” The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported the IPO was valued at $360 million as the company issued and sold 16 million shares, while selling stockholders sold 6.5 million. “For its part, GNC plans to use its net proceeds of about $240 million, in addition to cash on hand, to pay down debt among other things,” the Post-Gazette said. Goldman, Sachs & Co. and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, along with Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. and Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated, acted as joint bookrunners for the offering, and Barclays Capital Inc., Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, William Blair & Company, L.L.C. and BMO Capital Markets Corp. acted as co-managers. GNC has more than 7200 locations, of which more than 5600 retail locations are in the U.S.