Buy.com to Go Public

Aliso Viejo, Calif., On-line merchant Buy.com filed with U.S. regulators to raise up to $86.3 million in an initial public offering of common stock.

The IPO will be underwritten by RBC Capital Markets, Thomas Weisel Partners and Pacific Crest Securities, according to a preliminary prospectus filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The retailer plans to list its shares on Nasdaq under the symbol “BUYY.”

Buy.com reportedly will use the IPO proceeds to repay debt to ThinkTank Holdings, a company owned by Buy.com chairman, CEO and principal stockholder Scott Blum. The merchant also will use the proceeds to guarantee its obligations to distributors and credit-card processors.