Restaurant operator Skylark Co., which is controlled by Bain Capital LLC, is working with Nomura Holdings Inc. and Bank of America Corp. to prepare its initial public offering, two sources said.

Skylark plans to go public on the Tokyo Stock Exchange later this year, according to the sources, who asked not to be identified as the details are private.

The company, which Boston-based Bain bought for ¥160 billion in 2011, hasn't made a final decision on the size of the offering, they said.

Japanese stocks were the best performers in the developed world over the past year, encouraging buyout firms such as Bain and Cerberus Capital Management LP to recoup investments through first-time share sales.

Nomura, the country's No. 1 equity underwriter in 2013, expects IPOs will almost double to ¥1 trillion this year.

Skylark spokesman Junichi Kawaminami declined comment, as did Nomura spokesman Kenji Yamashita and Bank of America spokesman Tsukasa Noda.

Skylark may later select more banks to join the offering, two of the sources said. The company, which operates Gusto and Jonathan's family-style restaurants, employs about 5,600 people.

Last year, Skylark appointed former McDonald's Corp. President Ralph Alvarez as chairman to help expand its operations. The 51-year-old company, which delisted from the TSE in 2006, had revenue of ¥329.5 billion in 2012.

As many as 80 companies in industries such as information technology, manufacturing and solar energy may list in Tokyo this year, up from 58 in 2013, Hiroshi Yoshihara, head of Nomura's IPO department, said in a Jan. 21 interview. Seibu Holdings Inc., partly owned by Cerberus, plans to list on the Tokyo bourse as early as April, three sources said this month.