American Homes 4 Rent is seeking to raise $794 million in its initial public offering, the company disclosed in a regulatory filing on Friday. The Agoura Hills real estate investment trust plans to sell more than 44 million shares and expects the price to range between $16 and $18 a share, according to a prospectus filed with the Security and Exchange Commision. Led by B. Wayne Hughes, the billionaire founder of Public Storage Inc., the company owns and rents 14,210 single-family homes in 20 states. Another 1,425 homes are in escrow. The company, which had been based in Malibu, signed a lease last month to move its headquarters into a 42,000 square-foot office on Agoura Road. The IPO would be one of the largest for a company specializing in single-family rentals. Minnetonka, Minnesota firm Silver Bay Realty Trust Corp. raised $245 million in December and Scottsdale, Arizona firm American Residential Properties Inc. raised $288 million in early May. Goldman Sachs, Bank of America Corp., Wells Fargo & Co. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. are managing the American Homes offering. In its SEC filing, the company reported a loss of $10.2 million in 2012. The company has $1.7 billion in assets as of March 31.
