KinderCare seeks $600 million in initial public offering

By Steve Gelsi

Company describes itself as the largest provider of community-based early childhood education centers in the United States by center capacity

KinderCare Learning Companies Inc., the Lake Oswego, Ore.-based provider of kindergarten schooling for children, said Monday it plans to offer 24 million shares at an estimated price range of $23 to $27 a share in its upcoming initial public offering.

KinderCare plans to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker "KLC."

At the midpoint of the range, the company would raise $600 million with underwriters Goldman Sachs, Barclays, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan.

KinderCare provides early-childhood education and care services under the names KinderCare Learning Centers, Crème de la Crème and KinderCare Education at Work, with 1,557 centers with a licensed capacity for 209,998 children in 39 states and the District of Columbia.

With about 118 million shares outstanding after it goes public, KinderCare would have a market capitalization of about $3 billion.

The market-cap figure does not include additional shares to be issued for employee compensation.

KinderCare is backed by Swiss private-equity firm Partners Group Holding AG, which bought the company in 2015 .

The company reported $26.8 million in net income on revenue of $1.34 billion in the six months ending June 20, compared to $71.7 million in net income on revenue of $1.27 billion in the year-ago period.

In fiscal 2023, KinderCare earned $102.6 million on revenue of $2.5 billion.

KinderCare's Chief Executive is Paul Thompson, who succeeded the company's current Chairman John T. "Tom" Wyatt in the job on June 1. Thompson previously worked as president of the company from 2021 to 2024 and operating chief from 2019 to 2021.

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-Steve Gelsi

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09-30-24 0813ET

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