Vitamin Shoppe initiates public offering

NORTH BERGEN, N.J. Perhaps some indication as to the promise of dietary supplements today, specialty retailer Vitamin Shoppe on Wednesday initiated a public offering with 7.7 million shares of common stock at $17.

Trading under the symbol VSI on the New York Stock Exchange, shares were trading at $18.28 by mid-morning Wednesday. Vitamin Shoppe intends to use the net proceeds of approximately $121.2 million from the offering for the pro rata redemption of approximately $72.5 million of its outstanding preferred stock, the repurchase of approximately $45.2 million in aggregate principal amount of its outstanding senior secured notes, and the payment of offering-related expenses.

J.P.Morgan, BofA Merrill Lynch and Barclays Capital are acting as joint book-running managers for the offering. Piper Jaffray, Robert W. Baird & Co. and Stifel Nicolaus are the co-managers of the offering.