KKR-Backed BrightSpring Is Said to Revive IPO Seeking $1 Billion

BrightSpring Health Services Inc., which withdrew its initial public offering plan last year, has confidentially refiled for a listing with a goal of raising $1 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.

(Bloomberg) — BrightSpring Health Services Inc., which withdrew its initial public offering plan last year, has confidentially refiled for a listing with a goal of raising $1 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.

A listing by the home and community-based health-care services provider backed by KKR & Co. is slated for the fourth quarter, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information wasn’t public yet. BrightSpring has re-engaged Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and KKR’s own capital markets division as lead bookrunners for the offering, they said.

Other banks on the deal would include UBS AG, Leerink Partners LLC, Guggenheim Securities, Bank of America Corp., Wells Fargo & Co., Mizuho Financial Group Inc., Deutsche Bank AG, and William Blair & Co., the people said.

KKR and BrightSpring haven’t made a final decision on details and timing of a listing and their plans could still change, the people added. Representatives for KKR and Goldman Sachs declined to comment. A spokesperson for BrightSpring didn’t respond to requests for comment.

KKR bought BrightSpring in 2019 and merged it with PharMerica Corp. to create a diversified health-care platform with comprehensive care capabilities across clinical, pharmacy and non-clinical support services. In a statement at the time, KKR said that the merged company had combined revenue of about $4.5 billion.

BrightSpring, based in Louisville, Kentucky, now serves 350,000 senior and specialty patients daily in 50 states, according to its website.

The company filed publicly in October 2021 and had planned to list later that year. Faced with a souring market for new listings, it put its plans on hold until withdrawing its filing last November.

BrightSpring’s listing would follow a trio of closely watched US IPOs as the market for new listings warms after a nearly two-year freeze.

Though they have delivered mixed results since going public, Arm Holdings Plc, the semiconductor designer owned by SoftBank Group Corp., and grocery delivery company Instacart priced their IPOs at the top of a marketed range. Marketing and data automation software provider Klaviyo Inc. exceeded its target.

–With assistance from Bailey Lipschultz.

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