Advent International Supports IPO of Kirkland's, a Leading Home Decor Retailer

Furniture World Magazine

Advent International, the Boston-based global private equity firm, announced that its portfolio company Kirkland's, Inc. has completed an initial public offering of 6 million shares of common stock at a price of $15 per share for total proceeds of $90 million. The shares began trading today on Nasdaq under the symbol KIRK. After the IPO, Advent retains a significant ownership interest in the company. Kirkland's is one of the nation's largest specialty retailers of decorative home accessories and gift items. In June 1996, Advent led a $140 million recapitalization of the company, providing most of the equity capital and arranging over $100 million in debt financing. Since the transaction, Kirkland's has grown from 110 stores to 236 in 28 states, while sales have more than doubled from $128 million to $307 million. "We are extremely proud of our involvement with this rapidly growing company and the leadership provided by its outstanding management team," said David M. Mussafer, a Managing Director at Advent International. "Our investment in Kirkland's is a continuation of Advent's strategy to be a highly value-added partner for growth-oriented retail and service companies." Merrill Lynch & Co. was the lead underwriter for the offering, while CIB World Markets, SunTrust Robinson Humphrey and US Bancorp Piper Jaffray served as co-managers. Kirkland's will use the net proceeds from the offering principally to repay debt and purchase a portion of the outstanding shares of its preferred stock and common stock. Advent International is one of the world's leading specialty retail investors, with 20 investments in the sector globally. Kirkland's is the firm's second retail IPO in the last two months. In May, music, book and video retailer HMV Group went public on the London Stock Exchange, achieving a market capitalization of over $1 billion. Additionally, in June 2002, Advent led the buyout of Poundland, the U.K.'s No. 1 single-price retailer.