Dutch soft-drinks firm Refresco Gerber BV (RFGR.AE) on Friday
priced its initial public offering at 14.50 euros ($15.75) a share,
at the top end of its revised range set earlier this week, and
implying a market value of EUR1.18 billion.
The firm, which packages, produces and transports private drink
labels, set an indicative range of EUR13 to EUR16 a share for its
IPO on March 17 on the Euronext Amsterdam exchange. However, on
Wednesday a spokesperson told The Wall street Journal this range
was narrowed to EUR14-EUR14.5, due to "so much demand."
Conditional dealing will start on March 27, and unconditional
trading will start March 31.
The company has placed 6.9 million new shares under the IPO,
raising EUR100 million that will be used to provide additional
financial flexibility and partly repay its floating rate notes. A
further 30.9 million existing shares have been taken up by the
company's current shareholders.
"The strong interest of institutional investors in combination
with a firm retail demand in the Netherlands has created access to
new capital for the company to continue to execute its strategy,"
Chief Executive Hans Roelofs said.
"We have ambitious plans to bring Refresco Gerber to the next
stage by combining organic growth and acquisitive growth in Europe
and beyond. We look forward to the opportunities and benefits of
being a listed company," he said.
The company said last summer it planned to explore a new capital
structure to support its growth ambitions.
Since its inception in 1999, Refresco Gerber has completed 13
mergers and acquisitions, most recently the milestone combination
with Gerber Emig.
-Write to Ian Walker at ian.walker@wsj.com; @IanWalk40289749
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