May 26--US Foods, the Rosemont-based food service distributor, is going public after regaining momentum in the wake of its failed merger with Sysco last summer.
The company's shares began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "USFD" on Thursday. The shares were initially priced at $23 each, and climbed 8.3 percent to close at $24.91. US Foods Holding Corp., the parent company, intends to raise $1.02 billion in the offering, which is expected to close June 1, "subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions," the company said.
US Foods first announced its IPO intentions in October, saying it would file for an offering within 12 to 18 months. Last June, Houston-based Sysco officially called off its December 2013 plan to buy US Foods after a federal judge effectively scuttled the deal because of antitrust concerns from parties that included the Federal Trade Commission.
There have been signs that US Foods is recovering from the failed deal. In a quarterly report last month, US Foods reported revenue of about $5.6 billion for the 13-week period ending April 2, according to a filing with the Securities Exchange Commission, up about 0.7 percent from $5.5 billion during the same period a year earlier. Net income was reported at about $13.5 million, up from about $7.1 million in the same period a year ago.
The US Foods IPO is the second highest in value of the year, according to Dealogic data. MGM Growth Properties' offering in April was valued at about $1.2 billion.
