New York — Casper Sleep, the US online mattress retailer whose investors include actor Leonardo DiCaprio and rapper 50 Cent, is seeking to hire underwriters for an initial public offering (IPO), according to people familiar with the matter. Casper’s IPO comes as the company has been expanding into brick-and-mortar retail, transitioning from temporary to permanent stores. It is betting that its popularity with urban millennials will ensure it does not share the same fate as Mattress Firm, the largest US brick-and-mortar mattress retailer that filed for bankruptcy protection in 2018. New York-based Casper, which was valued at $920m in its latest private fundraising round in 2017, is planning to interview investment banks in April to hire underwriters for its IPO, the sources said, asking not to be identified because the matter is confidential. Casper declined to comment. Launched in 2014, Casper is one of a string of online mattress retailers, such as Purple, Nectar Sleep and Tuft & N...

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