Gary Evans
MORRISTOWN, Tenn. — Recliner and upholstery maker Berkline/BenchCraft Holdings has withdrawn an initial


public offering proposal it filed with the Security and Exchange Commission, officially ending its intention to go public.

President and CEO Bill Wittenberg said the company hadn’t updated financial numbers since filing the IPO registration statement in April 2012.

“We don’t envision going public anytime soon and we didn’t feel like leaving that document out there in the public domain. There’s a tremendous amount of information that can be gleaned from that,” he said.

Wittenberg said the company’s plans to raise $138 million through the IPO were delayed after the equities markets went soft. The company also considered a bond offering in Canada, but rejected it because of tax implications.

He also confirmed that the company has hired Imperial Capital, an investment banking firm with offices in Beverly Hills, New York and Whitefish, Montana, which “is looking at some liquidity  events for us.” He did not give any other details.

In addition, Moody’s Investors Service this week withdrew its ratings for Berkline/BenchCraft at the request of the company, which said its lenders no longer had a ratings requirement