Toys ‘R’ Us wants to come out of the attic this year.
Five years after taking the giant toy chain private for $6.6 billion, the retailer’s private-equity owners are angling to cash in with an initial public offering this summer, The Post has learned.
Bain Capital, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Vornado Realty — which had recently squabbled over the timing for an IPO, according to one source — are now interviewing investment banks including Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan Chase as potential underwriters.
The assignment: to issue as much as $1 billion in publicly traded shares. The cash would be used to slim and refinance Toys ‘R’ Us’ $5 billion debt load, which has hampered the big funds’ ability to take profits on their investment, sources said.
Bain Capital, KKR and Vornado declined to comment. “All we’re focused on right now is our business,” a Toys ‘R’ Us spokeswoman said, declining further comment.
The timing of such a move “makes perfect sense,” according to Gerrick Johnson, a toy analyst at BMO Capital Markets. “The toy industry had a decent 2009, and investors are starting to appreciate the defensive nature of the toy segment.”
Toys ‘R’ Us appears to be the only retailer planning an IPO in 2010. Other big retailers owned by buyout firms — including Neiman Marcus, Michael’s Stores, Guitar Center and Burlington Coat Factory — remain cowed by the uncertain economy, sources said.
“This biggest problem [for Toys ‘R’ Us] is so much of their value is tied to commercial real estate,” noted a partner at one private-equity firm. For the toy chain’s IPO to be successful, investors will “have to get comfortable” with a commercial real estate market that many investors still find scary, the source said.
On the positive side, CEO Jerry Storch has won praise for his shrewd turnaround effort. Last spring, the company hoovered up competitors, including upscale FAO Schwartz and mall-based KB Toys, both of which failed during the recession.
Last summer, Storch made a big bet on robotic hamster toys called Zhu-Zhu Pets, which he then helped hype into a holiday hit, even forcing Wal-Mart to scramble to catch up.
The retail industry reported only mildly positive holiday sales last month, but Toys ‘R’ Us boasted a solid gain of 4.6 percent in its domestic comparable sales for December, helping offset a companywide decline of 3.5 percent in last year’s fourth quarter.
That augurs well for this year’s all-important fiscal fourth quarter. For the third quarter ended Oct. 31, Toys ‘R’ Us narrowed its loss to $67 million from $104 million a year earlier as sales declined slightly to $2.7 billion.
As it pitches to investors this spring, the company is expected to highlight its Babies ‘R’ Us business, which is robust but relatively small.
Despite the recent turnaround, however, industry analysts concede that Toys ‘R’ Us, with 850 stores in the US and more than 700 internationally, may lack the growth potential that fuels investor excitement.
Toys ‘R’ Us is “a mature concept all over the world,” according to one toy analyst. “This is a defensive, cash-flow, dividend kind of story, as are most toy stories these days.”