Dollar General moves closer to IPO

Retailer sets price range for offering of more than 39 million shares

Email | Print By Geert De Lombaerde

The initial public offering of Dollar General took another step forward late last week, when the discount retailer nailed down an expected price range and the number of shares it is looking to sell.

In an update of its S-1 filing, Goodlettsville-based Dollar General said it will sell 22.7 million of its shares and market another 11.4 million on behalf of selling shareholders. The consortium of banks managing the offering have the option to sell another 5.1 million shares.

The shares are expected to be priced between $21 and $23, which would put the total proceeds at $823 million to $902 million. That's up from the $750 million figure Dollar General floated when it first filed papers in August to go public after almost three years under the umbrella of private-equity titan Kohlberg Kravis Roberts.

If the shares sell at $23, Dollar General's market capitalization would top $7.8 billion – about 7 percent more than its sale price in the spring of 2007. The company will use its proceeds to buy back more than $440 million of debt due in 2015 and 2017.