(Reuters) - Southeastern Grocers Inc, the Florida-based operator of supermarket chains Winn-Dixie and Bi-Lo, on Monday made its filing for an initial public offering public, more than two years after it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Last month, the company had confidentially filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an IPO.

The offering comes amid a massive rebound in U.S. capital markets, which came to a halt earlier this year due to uncertainty around the COVID-19 crisis. Grocers are also benefiting from consumers shopping for essentials as they stay at home during the pandemic.

The company's bankruptcy (https://fr.reuters.com/article/us-southeastern-grocers-bankruptcy-idUKKBN1H30OQ) in March 2018 came as margins of supermarkets were hurt by growing competition from big-box stores, including Walmart Inc (NYSE: WMT), and online giants such as Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN).

Southeastern Grocers intends to list its stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "SEGR", it said in a regulatory filing. (https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1587205/000104746920005232/a2242541zs-1.htm)

BofA Securities and Goldman Sachs & Co are the lead underwriters of the IPO.

(Reporting by C Nivedita in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)

Reuters