Apollo Global Management has reportedly initiated plans to take ADT public in an IPO that could value the provider of home security systems at more than $15 billion, including debt; the firm could file paperwork by the fall and officially list by the end of 2017. Apollo purchased ADT last year for about $7 billion and merged it with fellow security business Protection 1 in a transaction with a total value of about $15 billion.
For Apollo, a public offering could mean a rapid exit from an investment that's already generated a significant amount of cash. In February, ADT filed to raise $800 million in new debt to finance a $795 million dividend to Apollo, per Moody's. It would also continue a year of very big numbers for the firm: Apollo has reportedly raised $23.5 billion so far for its latest buyout fund.
A return to the public markets by ADT—the company was publicly traded from 2012 to 2016—would be by far the largest PE-backed IPO of 2017. So far, this year has brought a return to health for a US PE-backed IPO market that turned moribund in 2016. Companies have completed 28 floats already in 2017, per the PitchBook Platform, compared to 36 last year. While a return to the high of 86 PE-backed IPOs in 2014 isn't likely, a big ADT offering would be an encouraging sign.
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Article by PitchBook
