ELLIS GETS SET FOR NEW IPO FIRM WILL GO PUBLIC AGAIN TO PAY OFF DEBTS.

Byline: Gregory J. Wilcox Staff Writer

Privately held CB Richard Ellis Group Inc., the world's largest commercial real estate company, said Tuesday that it is going public again.

The Los Angeles-based firm's 278-page filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering said that shares are expected to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CBRE.

But it did not specify how many shares were going to be offered or provide a price range for the stock. Those details typically come later in the process.

The offering is being made through an underwriting syndicate led by Credit Suisse First Boston LLC and Citigroup Global Markets Inc.

The company's release said that the IPO is expected to consist of newly issued shares being offered by the company and secondary shares offered by affiliates of Blum Capital Partners, L.P. and other selling stockholders. Underwriters also typically get a piece of the action.

``Because of SEC regulations, we really can't respond to questions, unfortunately,'' said Ellis spokesman Steve Iaco.

Los Angeles-based IPO Monitor.com's Web site said that Ellis expects to raise $150 million through the stock sale.

Justin Burrows, money editor at Hoovers online, said he's not surprised that Ellis is taking this step since the environment for IPOs has been improving.

``It's been ... strong, particularly in the past quarter and at the beginning of this quarter,'' he said.

Ellis management is familiar with operating a public company.

In July 2001, the firm was taken private when it merged with Blum in a deal valued at $800 million. It's also been in a growth mode, last February buying competitor Insignia Financial Group Inc. for $260 million.

Ellis also issues publicly traded bonds so it must report financials.

In the third quarter of 2003, the most recent results available, Ellis reported a loss of $28.4 million versus net income of $1.9 million in the year-ago period. The 2003 third quarter includes one-time expenses of $47.8 million associated with the Insignia deal.

Revenues totaled $423.4 million, up from $138.4 million.

Michaela Drape, a Hoovers industry editor, said that Ellis will use the proceeds to pay down debt.

She said that the company's prospectus has a tentative tone to it.

``The is a lot of fill-in-the-blanks. Right now this prospectus is a lot like a toe in the water to see how the financial press and analysts react to their plan,'' she said.

Ellis has 220 offices in 48 countries.

Gregory J. Wilcox, [phone]

greg.wilcox(at)dailynews.com