GNC Withdraws IPO

PITTSBURGH--GNC Corp. withdrew its $400 million initial public offering (IPO) only a week after it was announced, because of unfavorable market conditions, including the London terrorism plot reported last week. As announced Aug. 7, the company planned to sell 23.5 million shares at $16 to $18 per share, which would have given it a market capitalization of about $1.1 billion. In addition to terrorism, the IPO could have been affected by the actual price investors were willing to pay for GNC stock, according to analysts, which was $3 to $4 per share less than expected. This is the second time a pending IPO has been pulled by Apollo Management LP, the company's majority shareholder, which scrapped IPO plans two years ago.

"This isn't a reflection of the company at all, but market conditions have been so unfriendly to IPOs, particularly the last two weeks, then the London situation, so we decided to postpone," GNC spokesman Ben Pratt said Aug. 11. "So our timing was poor." He said the company plans to reschedule its IPO, but there is no set time frame; it is reviewing it options, but it is too early to tell, he said.