Dave & Buster's files to go public again, expects to raise about $100 million in IPO

Dave & Buster's Entertainment Inc. filed to go public Monday, seeking to raise about $100 million in its second return to the public markets.

The Dallas-based company operates restaurants that have video games and show live sports on TV. It opened its first location in 1982 and was public from 1997 until it was bought out by Wellspring Capital Partners and HBK Main Street Investors in 2006. The chain was sold four years later to private equity firm Oak Hill Capital.

It currently operates 69 Dave & Buster's in 26 states and Canada, and it plans to expand overseas in 2016.

For the 26 weeks ended Aug. 3, Dave & Buster's lost $2.4 million, or $16.38 per share, hurt by a debt-retirement charge. Revenue increased to $376.2 million from $321.9 million the same period a year earlier, while sales at locations open at least a year — a key metric of a retailer's health — rose 5.2 percent.

The company plans to use proceeds from the offering to repay debt. The amount it expects to raise in the IPO could change as its bankers gauge investor interest.

Dave & Buster's expects to list its shares on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the "PLAY" symbol.