Dollar General Initial Public Offering

Sperry Van Ness/Fiducia Properties has had a number of questions about the nature of the credit standing behind Dollar General Stores. Some of these questions have revolved around whether or not Dollar General is publicly traded.

Dollar General was a publicly traded company until early 2007 when Kohlberg Kravis Roberts Co. (KKR) took the company private.  After owning the company for some two-and-a-half years, KKR took Dollar General back public, with an initial public offering (IPO) this past November 13.  Dollar General now trades under the ticker symbol "DG" on the New York Stock Exchange. DG's shares were brought out at the November 13 IPO at $21 each. They were trading at slightly higher than $23 per share intraday January 4, 2010.

Dollar General's credit is still rated slightly below investment grade by Standard and Poor's. The company's debt is currently rated BB-. Typically BBB- is the lowest rating considered investment grade.

For more information about the DG's IPO, please follow this link http://www.cnbc.com/id/33893679 for an article from CNBC.