againNEW YORK — Toys R Us Inc. said Friday that it plans to go public again by raising as much as $800 million in an initial public offering, a bid to take advantage of its business turnaround even in a rocky IPO market. The offering would be one of the biggest retail IPOs in years. But experts say IPOs so far this year have been disappointing, so pricing will be key.
Despite the recession dampening sales, Toys R Us has steadily improved net income under CEO Jerry Storch, the former Target Corp. vice chairman who joined the company in 2006. The year before, the company had been taken private in a $6.6 billion buyout by investors. Under Storch, the company has improved its merchandise selection and customer service and become more competitive on price, toy analyst Jim Silver said. Analyst Gerrick Johnson said the timing for the IPO makes sense because the toy industry is doing well, and Toys R Us has been taking market share from key competitors Target and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Bloomberg News
