An IPO for NFP?

It looks as though National Financial Partners is revving up for an IPO. The New York-based firm, which has spent the last four years gobbling up estate planners, corporate benefits firms, insurance brokerages, and investment advisory firms, said in a prepared statement that it plans to file a registration statement on Form S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission by the first quarter for a proposed initial public offering.

The IPO "will include both primary and secondary shares" of the company's common stock. But "the exact timing and terms of the offering are dependent on market conditions," according to the NFP statement.

While "the number of shares and the aggregate value of common stock to be sold in the initial public offering will be determined in the future by NFP and its underwriters," the NFP statement says, it "expects the net proceeds from the primary offering to fund acquisitions, reduce its debt, and for general corporate purposes."