Supermarket operator Albertsons plans to go public in IPO

Supermarket operator Albertsons Companies Inc., the No. 2 U.S. supermarket company whose brands also include Safeway, has filed for an initial public offering of stock, according to a filing Wednesday.

The Boise, Idaho-based company did not say how many shares it would offer, what they would cost or where those shares would trade. It said it expects to raise $100 million from the offering, though that figure is only an estimate used to calculate a filing fee. Proceeds from the offering will be used to repay debt and for general expenses.

Albertsons closed its $8 billion buyout of Safeway in January, drastically increasing the company's size. It now operates 2,205 stores in 33 states under 18 names. Safeway locations make up 1,247 of those stores. Other names under Safeway operations include Vons, Tom Thumb and Randalls.

The company also operates 456 Albertsons supermarkets in 16 states. Other retail banners include Jewel-Osco, Shaw's, Acme, United Supermarkets, Pavilions, and Star Markets.

Albertsons employs about 265,000 full- and part-time workers. It had revenue of $27.2 billion in fiscal 2014, but the addition of Safeway results boosts that revenue figure to $57.5 billion, which makes it the second-largest traditional supermarket chain the U.S. behind Kroger Inc.