Albertsons Reportedly Delays IPO, First Data Prices Offering Below Range

(RTTNews) - In a setback to the U.S. IPO market, grocery chain Albertsons Companies Inc. has reportedly postponed its plans to go public indefinitely, citing the recent stock market volatility. Meanwhile, payment processor First Data Corp. (FDC) on Wednesday priced its offering below its expected pricing range.

Albertsons was planning to raise about $1.6 billion through the IPO. But the company decided to delay its pricing late Wednesday after retailers' stocks took a hit following a disappointing financial outlook from retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT).

Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons is one of the nation's largest food and drug retailers. The company is privately owned by a consortium led by private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, L.P.

Albertsons' decision to go public came in September, about ten months after it completed the acquisition of rival Safeway Inc. in a $9.4 billion deal in January 2015.

Payment processor First Data Corp, which made a comeback to the stock markets eight years after it was taken private, priced its IPO of 160 million shares late Wednesday at $16 per share, below its expected range of $18 to $20 per share.

The shares will begin trading Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "FDC". In what would have been the biggest U.S. IPO this year, First Data was seeking to raise up to $3.2 billion.

First Data, backed by private equity firm KKR, has long-term debt of about $20 billion. The company plans to use net proceeds from the IPO to repay debt.

Earlier on Wednesday, media reports indicated that Neiman Marcus Group Inc., the century-old luxury department-store chain, has pushed back its initial public offering to next year. The company's decision is said to be prompted by the recent volatility in the stock markets and the fall in shares of other luxury-goods retailers.

After a strong 2014, the U.S. IPO market has struggled this year due to the recent weakness in the broader stock market since August.