Dollar General files for initial public offering

NEW YORK -- Discount-store chain Dollar General plans to go public in an initial public offering, according to documents filed with federal regulators Thursday.

The filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission specifies no time frame or expected offering price.

The documents show a proposed total offering price of $750 million. However, that estimate was made just for purposes of calculating a filing fee.

If it were to raise a similar amount, it would be one of the largest IPOs of the past year.

The Goodlettsville, Tenn.-based chain, with 8,577 stores in 35 states, sells discounted housewares and has benefited as consumers trade down to cheaper products during the recession.

Dollar General was a publicly traded company from 1968 until 2007. It was bought in July of that year for $6.9 billion by an investment group that included affiliates of private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and investment bank Goldman Sachs, among others.