DULUTH, Ga.—National Vision Holdings Inc., parent company of National Vision Inc. (NVI), announced today that it is planning an initial public stock offering (IPO).

A registration statement relating to the stock offering has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), but has not yet become effective, the parent company said in its announcement. The company would like to raise up to $100 million in the offering, according to the filing.

National Vision, the fourth-largest optical retailer in the United States according to Vision Monday’s 2017 Top 50 U.S. Optical Retailers report, operates 980 stores under five banners and 19 consumer websites, with annual sales of about $1.2 billion. The five banners are: America’s Best Contacts & Eyeglasses (559 stores), Eyeglass World (108 stores), Vision Centers inside select Walmart stores, and Vista Optical locations inside Fred Meyer stores and on select military bases.

“Based on our analysis, conducted with a third-party real estate firm, we believe that these brands can grow to at least 1,000 America’s Best stores and at least 850 Eyeglass World stores,” the registration filing noted.

The filing also included a letter to prospective share owners from National Vision Inc. chief executive officer Reade Fahs. The letter noted that National Vision got its start operating Vision Centers inside Walmart stores and has subsequently grown to become “one of the largest and fastest-growing optical retailers in the United States and a leader in the attractive value segment of the U.S. optical retail industry.”

The letter continued, “Eye exams and eyeglasses are illogically and needlessly expensive. While not an issue for wealthier people, this is an issue for blue-collar and lower-income Americans—an issue with broad implications.”

Additionally, the letter stated that National Vision “exists to make eyecare and eyewear more affordable and accessible.”

The SEC filing stated that an application has been made for listing the shares on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “EYE.” The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined.

According to the filing, National Vision Holdings, in fiscal years 2015 and 2016, had net revenue of $1.1 billion and $1.2 billion, respectively, and that over a five-year period the company achieved a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 14 percent.

The reported net income in fiscal 2015 and 2016 totaled $4 million and $15 million, respectively, with adjusted EBITDA in these two years of $113 million and $138 million, respectively, according to the SEC filing.

In addition, the registration statement noted that upon completion of the offering “affiliates of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. … and private equity funds managed by Berkshire Partners LLC, or Berkshire, will continue to own a majority of the voting power of [the company’s] common stock.”

Among the operating highlights the company noted in its filing:

• Achieved 62 consecutive quarters of positive comparable store sales (with a simple long-term average of approximately 5 percent growth per quarter and with most of this growth coming from an increase in the number of customers as opposed to average ticket amount), which we believe is a category record. The team leading National Vision today has never experienced a negative comp quarter.

• Steadily grown sales from $245 million (in 2002 when the current team formed) to $1.2 billion (in 2016).

• Opened 458 stores on a net basis (opened 512 new stores and closed 54 stores)—an average of 45 per year—over the past 10 years and accelerated new store openings to approximately 75 annually.