Mattress Firm offering priced at $29.85 per share

Larry Thomas -- Furniture Today, October 4, 2012

HOUSTON — Bedding retailer Mattress Firm said it has priced a secondary public offering of common stock at $29.85 per share.

The stock offering won't generate any new money for the company, but allows certain stockholders to sell their shares.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mattress Firm said 4.73 million shares would be sold by stockholders, and underwriters of the offering have a 30-day option to purchase an additional 709,000 shares.

The majority of the shares being sold are owned by the investment firm Neuberger Berman Group, which is selling its entire 9% stake, or about 3.03 million shares.

Mattress Firm's largest stockholder, the investment firm J.W. Childs, currently owns 59.9% of the stock, and will own 55.5% after the offering is completed.

Other shares are being sold by some of the retailer's senior management and board of directors. The largest of these is a 107,171-share block being sold by CEO Steve Stagner. Stagner currently owns 4.2% of the company's stock and will have a 3.9% stake after the offering is completed.

The offering is expected to close Oct. 10.

Mattress Firm's initial public offering on Nov. 18, 2011, was priced at $19 per share.