Neff Corp. Files for IPO

Sept. 4, 2014

Miami-based equipment rental company Neff Corp. has filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission for an initial public offering of its Class A common stock. Neff plans to list its common stock under the symbol NEFF, but did not specify which exchange.

Morgan Stanley, Jefferies, Piper Jaffray, Wells Fargo Securities, Band of America Merrill Lynch are the main underwriters to the IPO, Neff said in its preliminary prospectus. The filing included a fundraising target of about $100 million, but the company did not reveal how many shares the company planned to sell or their expected price.

Neff filed for an IPO in 2006, but withdrew it in 2007 after being acquired by private equity firm Lightyear Capital for about $900 million, including debt. Neff filed for bankruptcy protection in May 2010, and emerged from Chapter 11 proceedings in October of that year. After the restructuring, private equity firm Wayzata Partners took control of the company.

Neff reported a net loss of $17.4 million for the first six months of 2014, compared with a profit of $13 million for the first six months of 2013, Reuters reported, although revenue increased to $170.1 million for the period. For the 12-month period ended June 30, Neff generated revenues of $346.9. Neff reported to RER that it totaled $327 million in revenue in 2013, with $281 million coming from rental.

Neff plans to use a portion of the IPO proceeds to pay down principal on an outstanding second lien loan, scheduled to mature in 2021. Another portion will go to repay part of its revolving credit facility, scheduled to mature in late 2018.

The company has 64 locations, primarily in the southeast and southwestern United States.

Neff Rental is No. 12 on the RER 100.