KANSAS CITY, MO. — National Beef announced today that it has postponed its initial public offering due to current weakness in the i.p.o. market.

The nation’s fourth-largest beef processor said in a Dec. 2 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it expects the initial public offering price of its 17,250,000 shares to be between $15 and $17 each. The company has applied to list the shares of Class A common stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "NBP."

After deducting the estimated underwriting discount and other estimated offering expenses, National Beef said it expects to receive net proceeds from the sale of its Class A common stock of approximately $255.7 million (based on an assumed i.p.o. price of $16 per share).

"We intend to use net cash proceeds to acquire outstanding new units from the founding members of NBP L.L.C. and to purchase new units from NBP L.L.C.," the company said in the Dec. 2 filing. "We expect NBP L.L.C. to use the net proceeds from its sale of new units to us to reduce indebtedness and for other general corporate purposes."