Citigroup (NYSE:C), Deutsche (NYSE:DB) Leading Freescale IPO

Freescale Semiconductor is being brought back to being a publicly traded company, led by financial giants Citigroup (NYSE:C) and Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB).

Blackstone Group, TPG Capital, Carlyle Group and Permira took Freescale private in 2006 in a $17.6 billion buyout.

As of the end of 2010, Freescale had a huge debt load of $7.6 billion. Freescale said they will use a part of the proceeds from the IPO to pay down the debt, which they paid about $537 million in interest on for the whole year.

The company has had a checkered performance over the last several years, generating net sales of $4.46 billion in 2008, a gain of about 27 percent from 2007. In 2009 they generated net income of $748 million, but plummeted in 2010, losing $1.05 billion for the year.

JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) and Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS) are underwriters for the IPO.