Ikea-competitor At Home trades flat after market debut
At Home Group traded relatively flat after its IPO, which opened at $16.25 per share on Thursday.
At Home, which competes with giants like HomeGoods and Ikea, priced its IPO of 8.67 million common shares at $15 per share, according to Reuters.
Since the home decor company rebranded itself in 2014, the chain has since expanded to 110 from 65 stores in the United States. Lee Bird, the CEO of At Home, said on CNBC that the big box specialty retailer is rapidly growing and plans to open 20 new stores a year, a rate Bird views as possible.
"We've [expanded] in the past...in the past three years we've been growing it 20 percent a year. Unit growth last year is 25 percent. We feel comfortable that we can deliver it at that rate going forward," Bird said .
The Plano, Texas-based firm focuses on being a value player, selling at competitors' prices and lower. It will use its IPO funds to pay the company's debts, Bird said.
"We've been growing at a great rate. We haven't needed any new equity from [investors] since we've started working together, so we've been able to self-fund our growth as well, so they'll be thoughtful about their sell down," said Bird.
AEA Investors and Starr Investors will retain shares of At Home after the offering ends on August 9 at 60.8 percent and 38.2 percent, respectively.
The firm traded near $15.16 on Thursday.