Albertsons Cos. is once again preparing to go public, said people familiar with the matter, as the grocery giant’s backers look to tap into a strong stock market to cash out of an investment that dates back nearly 15 years.

The company, which also owns the Safeway and Jewel-Osco chains, expects to decide in coming weeks whether to proceed with an initial public offering that could value it around $19 billion, one of the people said. Albertsons has been updating IPO documents that have been filed confidentially with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the people said.

An IPO of Albertsons, which had about $61 billion in sales for the fiscal year ended Feb. 2019, would be one of the biggest tests of the IPO market this year. It would pave the road of an exit for private-equity investor Cerberus Capital Management LP, which cobbled together the company through a series of deals dating back to 2006. Cerberus is resurrecting IPO discussions in hopes of capitalizing on the grocer’s improved performance, strong markets and positive economic indicators, one of the people said.

The grocery chain has substantially reduced debt since it last filed paperwork for an IPO in 2015. It ended November with about $8.34 billion in net debt excluding operating leases, down from $10.52 billion a year earlier.

The Boise, Idaho-based company posted a 2.7% increase in same-store sales when it reported third-quarter earnings last week. The operator of 2,260 stores has been remodeling its locations, investing in technology and selling real estate, outpacing its bigger rival Kroger Co. in growth. The improvements have come under chief executive Vivek Sankaran, who joined from PepsiCo Inc. last year.