Largest Departmeant Store

Oct. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Myer Group Pty, Australia’s largest department-store chain, sold shares in an initial public offering that values the company at A$2.4 billion ($2.2 billion), offloading its stock near the bottom of its forecast range.The shares were sold at A$4.10 apiece, Melbourne-based Myer, controlled by buyout firm TPG Inc., said in a statement today. That compares with the A$3.90 to A$4.90 range the company predicted when announcing the IPO on Sept. 28. The IPO prices Myer stock at 15.1 times forecast earnings. David Jones Ltd., Australia’s second-largest department store, is trading at 17 times earnings.TPG and Blum Capital, which teamed up with members of the founding Myer family to buy the retailer in 2006 for A$1.4 billion, sold all of their shares, taking advantage of a 45 percent rise in the benchmark stock index since March. Management will hold about 7.7 percent of the retailer and the Myer family retained a 1.5 percent stake.The Myer chain was founded in 1900, when Sidney and Elcon Myer, immigrants from Russia, opened their first shop in the town of Bendigo in Victoria state. In 1985 it was purchased by G.J. Coles & Coy, creating Coles Myer Ltd., Australia’s biggest retailer and largest publicly traded corporation at the time.Myer, which has 65 stores, plans to open 15 more in the next five years, it said in the prospectus for the share sale.The chain’s owners boosted earnings by opening new stores, refurbishing outlets and increasing its range of more profitable clothing brands.The IPO is Australia’s largest since Boart Longyear Ltd., a provider of drilling services to mining companies, raised A$2.6 billion in April 2007.Credit Suisse Group AG, Goldman Sachs JBWere and Macquarie Group Ltd. were lead managers for the sale.