Neiman Marcus delays IPO amid stock market volatility

Neiman Marcus Group Inc, the U.S. luxury specialty department store chain that registered with regulators in August for an initial public offering, has pushed back its stock market flotation to 2016, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Dallas, Texas-based company, which is owned by private equity firm Ares Management LP and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, was eyeing an IPO this year but stock market jitters have prompted it to put the plan on hold, the sources said this week.

They asked not to be identified because the deliberations are confidential. Neiman Marcus, Ares and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board were not immediately available for comment.

Neiman Marcus' postponement comes amid a choppy IPO market. Last week, four of the five companies that went public in the United States - payment card maker CPI Card Group Inc, commercial bank Allegiance Bancshares Inc, and biotechnology companies CytomX Therapeutics Inc and Aclaris Therapeutics Inc - priced the offerings below their indicated range.

In the third quarter of 2015, 26 companies went public, down from 59 in the same period a year before, according to Thomson Reuters data.

To be sure, this year's two largest IPOs are pressing ahead. Credit card processor First Data Corp, owned by private equity firm KKR & Co LP and U.S. supermarket chain Albertsons Companies, owned by Cerberus Capital Management LP, are scheduled to price on Wednesday.

Investor response to both has been tepid, industry sources said, cautioning that the book-building in both IPOs had not been finalized.

Neiman Marcus, which also operates under the Bergdorf Goodman and MyTheresa brands, was acquired by Ares and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board nearly two years ago for $6 billion.

Last month, Neiman Marcus reported that its adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization were $710.6 million in the 12 months to Aug. 1, slightly up from $698.4 million the year prior.