Carlyle Group to Take HCR ManorCare Public

Reuters is reporting that private equity firm The Carlyle Group will soon take HCR ManorCare public in an offering that could raise as much as $500 million.

The company is expected to file IPO registration paperwork with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission within the next month.

The IPO could give the nursing home and assisted living facility operator an enterprise value of up to $2 billion, said a source familiar with the matter.

HCR ManorCare has more than 500 locations in 32 states. The company was formed by the merger of HCR and ManorCare in 1998. Carlyle took the company private in 2007.

Carlyle itself plans to file for an initial public offering in the third quarter of 2011. Carlyle will become the fourth major U.S. buyout firm to go public within the past several years, following Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX), KKR (NYSE: KKR) and Apollo Global Management (NYSE: APO).