Albertsons Looks to Raise About $2 Billion in IPO

Albertsons is looking to raise up to about $2 billion in its initial public offering, up from a previous estimate, according to regulatory filing Friday. The Boise, Idaho, supermarket company, which put its IPO plans in motion in July, said it intends to offer 65.3 million shares at $23 to $26 a share. Underwriters will have the option to buy up to an additional 9.8 million shares. An offering at the high end of the pricing guidance would give Albertsons a valuation of about $12 billion. The offering size is up from last week's estimate of $1.84 billion. Albertsons, which will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under ticker symbol "ABS," is returning to the public markets after an investment group led by Cerberus Capital Management bought the company in 2006 and then combined it with rival grocer Safeway  in a $9.4 billion deal earlier this year. That deal created the second-largest U.S. grocery chain, behind Kroger, in a move to better compete amid growing competition from discounters like Wal-Mart Stores and upscale options like Whole Foods Market. Albertsons has said it would use IPO proceeds to pay down debt, including debt it assumed in the Safeway acquisition. In addition to its namesake chains, Albertsons operates 17 other store banners, including Acme and Jewel Osco. In a recent regulatory filing, the grocer signaled it is considering adding more brands to its portfolio. As of June, the company operated 2,205 stores across 33 states. For its most recent fiscal year, Albertsons reported a loss of $1.2 billion on $27.2 billion in sales. In Friday's filing, the company said its loss for the latest quarter, on a pro forma basis to reflect Safeway, was $126 million. Write to Lisa Beilfuss at lisa.beilfuss@wsj.com