Sandy Springs-based First Data files to go public

First Data, the major payments processor based in Sandy Springs, filed on Monday for an initial public offering.

The move would return the company to the stock market about eight years after private equity firm KKR & Co. took the company private in a massive leveraged buyout.

The 2007 acquisition happened as the economy tanked, and First Data was saddled with debt and tepid growth. The company said in the prospectus it plans to use the proceeds to pay down debt.

KKR will continue to control a majority of the company’s shares, according to the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The expected value of the IPO is not immediately known.

First Data reported $11.15 billion in revenue in 2014, up 3.2 percent from 2013, according to the filing. Net loss was $458 million last year, an improvement from $869 million in 2013. The losses were largely the result of the heavy debt burden.

The company has more than 24,000 employees worldwide.

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