WILTON, Conn., July 8, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Blue Buffalo Pet Products, Inc. ("Blue Buffalo") today announced the commencement of the initial public offering of shares of its common stock pursuant to a registration statement on Form S-1, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "Commission"). Existing stockholders of Blue Buffalo are selling 29,483,727 shares of common stock in the offering. The underwriters in the offering will have a 30-day over-allotment option to purchase up to an additional 4,422,559 shares of common stock. The estimated initial public offering price is between $16.00 and $18.00 per share. In addition, Blue Buffalo will be issuing 35,934 shares to approximately 1,700 non-management employees at no cost to them.

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Citigroup Global Markets Inc. are acting as joint book-running managers for the proposed offering and as representatives of the underwriters. Barclays Capital Inc., Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC are also acting as joint book-running managers for the proposed offering. Wells Fargo Securities, LLC and LOYAL3 Securities, Inc. are acting as co-managers for the proposed offering.

Up to 5% of the shares of common stock offered in the proposed offering will be reserved for sale, through a platform administered by LOYAL3, to individual investors so that they can have a chance to buy shares of Blue Buffalo at the same price and at the same time as institutional investors in the offering. The shares to be issued by Blue Buffalo to its non-management employees will also be offered through the LOYAL3 platform.

Blue Buffalo has applied to list its common stock on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol "BUFF".

A registration statement on Form S-1 relating to the proposed offering has been filed with the Commission but has not yet become effective. The shares to be registered may not be sold nor may offers to buy be accepted prior to the time the registration statement becomes effective. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

The offering is being made only by means of a prospectus. A copy of the prospectus related to the offering may be obtained by contacting J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717, or by telephone at 866-803-9204; or Citigroup Global Markets Inc., c/o Broadridge Financial Services, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY, 11717, or by telephone at (800) 831-9146, or by email at prospectus@citi.com.

About Blue Buffalo

Blue Buffalo, based in Wilton, CT, is a natural pet products company that makes natural foods and treats for dogs and cats under the BLUE Life Protection Formula, BLUE Wilderness, BLUE Basics and BLUE Freedom lines, and cat litter under the BLUE Naturally Fresh line.

Forward Looking Statements

The statements contained in this release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on Blue Buffalo's current expectations and are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. Actual results may differ materially from these expectations due to changes in global, regional or local economic, business, competitive, market, regulatory and other factors, many of which are beyond Blue Buffalo's control. Any forward-looking statement in this release speaks only as of the date of this release. Blue Buffalo undertakes no obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by any applicable securities laws.

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/blue-buffalo-announces-launch-of-initial-public-offering-300110677.html

SOURCE Blue Buffalo

Richard Maclean, remaclean@bluebuff.com

distributed by