TPG-Backed U.S. Tire Distributor ATD Files for IPO

Private equity firm TPG Capital LP-backed ATD Corp, one of the largest U.S. tire distributors, filed with U.S. regulators on Monday to raise up to $100 million in an initial public offering.

The company, which sells brands like Hercules, Ironman and Capitol, listed Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Deutsche Bank Securities and Goldman Sachs as lead underwriters to the IPO.

Founded in 1935, ATD, or American Tire Distributors, is a wholesale distributor of tires, custom wheel and related tools to about 72,000 customers and operates more than 140 distribution centers in the United States and Canada.

The Huntersville, North Carolina-based company's net sales jumped 73 percent to $3.8 billion between 2009 and 2013.

ATD's net sales rose a more modest 28 percent to $1.07 billion in the three months ended March 31, while its loss widened to $34.04 million from $16.3 million a year earlier.

The company counts TCI Tire Centers, automotive dealership channel provider Dealer Tire as well as online tire service operator Tire Rack among its competitors.

TPG acquired ATD in 2010 for $1.3 billion from a consortium of private equity firms that included Investcorp, Berkshire Partners LLC and Greenbriar Equity Group LLC.

Reuters in May had reported TPG was exploring an IPO of ATD, which could value the company at more than $2.5 billion.

ATD did not say how many shares would be sold in the offering or the price at which they would be sold.

The amount of money a company says it plans to raise in its first IPO filings is used to calculate registration fees. The final size of the IPO could be different.

ATD, which also did not say which exchange it intends to list its common stock on, plans to use the proceeds for working capital and general corporate purposes.

TPG(Reporting By Neha Dimri in Bangalore; Editing by Maju Samuel and Savio D'Souza)