(Adds company background)
Nov 2 (Reuters) - Shares of Restoration Hardware rose as much as 34 percent during their market debut on Friday.
The upscale furniture retailer, backed by private equity firms Catterton Partners and Tower Three Partners LLC, opened New York Stock Exchange trading at $32.05 after pricing at the high end of the expected range at $24.
Restoration Hardware priced 5.2 million shares. The company offered 4.8 million shares with selling stockholders offering the rest.
Restoration Hardware, based in Corte Madera, California, sells furniture, bath linen, lighting fixtures and other items through its stores, catalogs and online.
The company competes with retailers like Williams Sonoma Inc , which operates the Pottery Barn and West Elm chains, Ethan Allen Interiors Inc and Pier 1 Imports Inc . As of July 28, 2012, it operated 73 retail stores in the United States and Canada.
Restoration Hardware's revenue grew 24 percent to $958.1 million in fiscal year 2012. It swung to a profit of $20.6 million from a loss of $7 million in the year prior.
BofA Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs were the lead underwriters to the offering.
(Reporting By Olivia Oran; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick)