HCA, the nation's largest hospital chain with 162 hospitals and 106 freestanding surgery centers in the U.S. and England, filed a registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed initial public offering of at least $4 billion shares of its common stock, according to a company news release.
Of that, the company plans to raise $2.5 billion by selling newly issued shares.
HCA's IPO would be the largest U.S. IPO in two years, according to a report by Bloomberg.
The company is expected to use the proceeds of the IPO to repay debt, according to its filing with the SEC. In 2006, HCA was taken private in what was at the time the largest leveraged buyout ever, led by KKR & Co. and Bain Capital.
Read HCA's news release on the IPO filing.