Parent of Carl's Jr., Hardee's files for IPO

[May 18, 2012]  NEW YORK (AP) -- The owner of fast-food chains Carl's Jr. and Hardee's is planning to go public again, seeking to raise an estimated $100 million.

CKE Inc. says it will use proceeds from the offering to repay debt and for general corporate expenses.

It filed preliminary paperwork for the IPO Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The company first went public in in 1981. In 2010, private-equity firm Apollo Management bought it and took it private.

This time around it plans to list under the ticker "CK" on the New York Stock Exchange.

The fast-food operator disclosed that it lost $19.3 million in the year ending January 2012.

Based in Carpinteria, Calif., CKE has more than 1,300 Carl's Jr. restaurants and more than 1,900 Hardee's in the U.S. and overseas.

[Associated Press]

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