JDE Peet’s will accelerate Us$2.6bil Amsterdam IPO
amsterdam: JDE Peet’s BV, the coffee business being listed here by JAB Holdings NV, is wrapping up its initial public offering (IPO) earlier than anticipated because of a “strong response,” a sign of investors’ eagerness to own a resilient business in the face of the coronavirus outbreak.
2.4bil
JDE Peet’s will price the (Us$2.6bil) sale today with trading slated to begin on the same day. The offering began Tuesday and the initial plan was for trading to begin a week later, on June 3.
That one-week period already would have made the sale one of the fastest processes for a listing of its size.
The few IPO candidates that have tapped European markets in recent weeks have shied away from the customary two-week bookbuilding period to minimise the risk that the offering would get caught up in market volatility from the pandemic and the resulting economic impact.
JDE Peet’s and its existing shareholders told
31.50 investors that orders below risk missing the offering, according to a source. At that price, the IPO proceeds would rank it as the largest listing on a European exchange this year, according to data compiled by
30 Bloomberg. The shares were marketed at
32.35 to apiece.
Among other firms that have shortened their bookbuilding periods, database management and analytics firm Exasol AG, which
87.5mil raised this week, closed its book for investor orders within three and half days. Norwegian video-conferencing firm Pexip Holding ASA, the first main market listing in western Europe since the pandemic upended global stock markets three months ago, kept its books open for a week.
Bankers are also lining up key investors ahead of launching an offering to minimise the time spent marketing to potential buyers. Cornerstone investors, including funds run by billionaire George Soros’s firm, have committed to taking up a third of JDE Peet’s offering.
JDE Peet’s is selling 23.3 million shares, while shareholders Mondelez International Inc and Acorn Holdings, a company owned by JAB and other investors, will offload as many as 25.8 million shares each. It plans to use the proceeds to repay debt and for potential acquisitions to challenge rivals such as Nestle SA and Starbucks Corp.