Carlyle's Axalta seeks to raise as much as $945 million in IPO

Axalta Coating Systems Ltd., a Philadelphia auto-paint business backed by Carlyle Group L.P., seeks to raise as much as $945 million in an initial public offering.

Carlyle is offering 45 million shares for $18 to $21 each, according to an amended regulatory filing Thursday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Axalta, the former auto-paint unit of DuPont Co., will not receive any of the proceeds from the sale.

At the high end of the range, Axalta has a market value of $4.8 billion, based on 229.1 million outstanding shares, its filing shows. That's about 1.2 times the Philadelphia company's 2013 sales of almost $4 billion. Competitor PPG Industries Inc. is trading at about 1.7 times sales.

Carlyle will hold a 79 percent stake after the offering, excluding the underwriters' option to buy additional shares. Carlyle acquired Axalta in February 2013 for $4.9 billion from DuPont, which decided to exit the business as part of a shift to other industries such as food and biofuels.

Citigroup Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Deutsche Bank AG, and JPMorgan Chase & Co. are managing the offering. Axalta has applied to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AXTA.