Image source: Total Produce
Dole plc, the massive fruit and vegetable distributor formed earlier this year from the merger of Total Produce plc (OTC: TTPPF ) and Dole Foods Company, has cut the price range for its upcoming initial public offering (IPO) in the US.
In a revised SEC Form F-1 filing, Ireland-headquartered Dole said it plans to price shares between $16 and $17 apiece, revised from the previously stated range of $20 to $24 per share.
More shares will be offered in the transaction that originally planned, however, from 26 million shares to 30.3 million shares, while a proposed secondary offering of shares by Dole Food’s majority owner, Castle & Cook, was canceled.
At the top end of the new range, Dole would be valued at $1.7 billion, about $400 million less than its initial targeted valuation.
Total Produce shareholders will now receive a 57% stake in the new entity, rather than 61.5% as originally announced, with the difference going to Castle & Cook stakeholders.
Dole Food Company and Ireland-based Total Produce have been closely linked since 2018, when Total Produce acquired 45% of Dole Food from billionaire David Murdock for $300 million. As part of that deal, Carl McCann, Total Produce’s chairman, became vice chairman of Dole Food, while Murdock stepped down from the company.
In February 2021, the companies agreed to merge under the newly created Dole plc to create the world’s largest fresh produce company, supplying everything from lettuce to pineapples to avocados in North America and Europe.
Besides forming a “well-balanced geographic footprint,” the companies said the combined entity is expected to save millions of dollars on costs such as shipping, manufacturing plants, storage facilities and packing houses.
The IPO’s expected completion on July 30 is the final piece of the merger. Total Produce will delist from the London Stock Exchange and Euronext Dublin, while Dole plc will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker DOLE.
Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and Davy Group are acting as lead underwriters for the offering.
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Source: Equities News
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