MILAN – Food maker Strauss Group is s planning an IPO for its Strauss Coffee division on Wall Street, after its partner in the division, Texas-based private equity firm TPG Capital said it wanted out. This was reported by TheMarker, a Tel Aviv financial daily.
Goldman Sachs and Citigroup been identified as the lead underwriters for the IPO, which is planned for mid-2014, reports the same source.
Strauss Coffee is the food group’s largest and most profitable division, and the fifth largest coffee company in the world.
TPG paid $293 million for its stake in September 2008.
In July, Strauss Group announced that it was conducting a review together with TPG Capital of examining possible TPG exit alternatives from Strauss Coffee.
Strauss Group said on Sunday that it was exploring options to let TPG divest its holding.
“The company continues together with TPG Capital … to examine exit alternatives for TPG from Strauss Coffee. No decision has been made regarding exit options for TPG,” the company said in a statement in response to the report.
According to TheMarker, Strauss has chosen Goldman Sachs and Citi to underwrite the offering.
If Strauss Coffee does not have major debt, and given its EBITDA of NIS 463 million (US$131,5 million) over the past 12 months, The offering could value Strauss Coffee at $1.2-$1.8 billion, the report said.
In other news, Strauss Group announced on Suday it will close down its cooffee factory in Safed, in the Northern District of Israel, because of complaints about the environment, and will move part of the production overseas.
The plant’s employees will be transferred to other plants in the area.
