New York (CNN Business) Chuck E. Cheese has been quietly making a comeback. Now the company thinks it's ready to show off to Wall Street.

After going private five years ago, Chuck E. Cheese will be public once again. The chain's parent company is merging with a publicly traded acquisitions firm. That combined company will start trading under the CEC symbol on the New York Stock Exchange this year.

Over the course of the past five years as a private company — out of the view of investors who expect consistent profit growth — CEC Entertainment has made significant investments to its menu, stores and entertainment to help modernize the brand.

It replaced tokens with RFID cards and introducing an "all you can play" model that lets parents pay for entertainment by time. Like other food chains, Chuck E. Cheese has also launched a loyalty program and partnerships with delivery platforms so that kids can eat Chuck E. Cheese food at home.

Those improvements have paid off. Sales at CEC stores — which include Chuck E. Cheese and the smaller Peter Piper Pizza — open at least a year grew 3.3% in the fourth quarter of last year, the company reported, and are projected to grow 7.7% in the first quarter of 2019.

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