The investment fund that owns 51.8% of BlueLinx has started the process to reduce its stake in the once-troubled distributor, BlueLinx announced today.

Cerberus Capital Management filed a shelf registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission in which it said it could sell some or all of its 4.7 million shares in BlueLinx.

BlueLinx has undergone significant changes in the past 18 months as it struggled to reduce its debt. In part by closing distribution facilities and selling property, on Aug. 10 it reported a swing in the second quarter to a net profit of $3.2 million from a year-earlier net loss of $3.1 million. This came even as sales dropped 6.9% to $474 million. On the other hand, Interest expense--a major drag on BlueLinx's earnings in recent years--declined roughly $900,000 year-over-year to total $5.4 million, the earnings report showed. As of July 1, 2017, the company had outstanding borrowings of $231.3 million.

Cerberus has held stakes in BlueLinx since 2004, when the distribution company was spun off from Georgia-Pacific. In today's announcement, Cerberus' Steven Mayer, co-global head of private equity and a senior managing director, said his company regards BlueLinx as "well-positioned to take full advantage of the ongoing housing recovery, as well as potential consolidation in the industry." He said Cerberus requested the shelf registration "so that we could consider opportunities to return our invested capital.” Cerberus will get all proceeds from the share sale, the investment firm said.

BlueLinx President and CEO Mitch Lewis said his company regards Cerberus' potential pullout “as a tremendous opportunity to potentially increase the public float of our stock and an inflection point for BlueLinx. We will continue our efforts to capitalize on the value of our owned real property and deleverage the company while focusing on the myriad of operational improvements that we are already implementing.”