NXP Semi Files for $1.15 Billion IPO

(Reuters) – Dutch semiconductor company NXP Semiconductors N.V. on Friday filed with U.S. regulators for an initial public offering of up to $1.15 billion.

NXP, which filed under the name Kaslion Acquisition B.V., said it would change its name to NXP.

Private equity investors including Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co, Bain Capital, Silver Lake Partners, Apax and AlpInvest Partners bought an 80 percent stake in the company in 2006 from Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV (PHG.AS).

Koninklijke Philips currently has about a 20 percent stake in the company.

The U.S. IPO market has greatly improved in the past few weeks and private equity firms are combing through their portfolios for companies that might be ready to be taken public.

The “window” nor private equity-backed IPOs cracked open late last year but was largely shut during the financial crisis.

Retailer Toys R Us, healthcare firm HCA and Dunkin Donuts are also expected to file soon for IPOs.

Eindhoven, Netherlands-based Kaslion posted a net loss of $161 million in the year ended Dec. 31, compared with a loss of $3.57 billion a year earlier. 

The company said it will use proceeds from the offering to repay debt.

Underwriters are being led by Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs & Co and Morgan Stanley.

KKR was not listed as an underwriter on the deal. The firm, which was one of the underwriters on the IPO of its portfolio company Dollar General Corp (DG.N) last year, has the ability to underwrite deals through an alliance it struck with Fidelity in 2009. That means it could be one of the underwriters on the upcoming HCA IPO.

HCA, also owned by Bain Capital and Bank of America, is currently in the process of selecting banks for its upcoming IPO, sources have previously told Reuters. (Reporting by Clare Baldwin and Megan Davies in New York and Archana Shankar in Bangalore; Editing by Gary Hill)