ROSEMONT, IL – Finally securing its initial public offering, US Foods raised $1.02 billion on Wednesday to become the second-largest IPO in the U.S. so far this year.
To secure its funds, US Foods priced its 44.4 million shares at $23 as of market close on Wednesday, which lies within the $21 to $24 range that US Foods previously expected, according to an anonymous source close to the matter as reported by the Wall Street Journal.
In its first day of trading, the Wall Street Journal also reported that US Foods shares had surged up 5.3 percent at $24.25 in the morning trade. US Foods’ ticker symbol will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under USFD.
Reuters stated that analysts had been closely following US Foods because it was the first major leveraged buyout going public since the stock market became first apprehensive of such debt-laden offerings at the end of last year.
US Foods reported $23 billion in revenue and an EBITDA of $875 million for fiscal 2016, as documented in its IPO prospectus. The company has approximately $5 billion in debt which US Foods plans to pay down on with its proceeds from the IPO. Some of the underwriters for the offering include Goldman Sachs & Co., Morgan Stanley, and J.P. Morgan.
Reuters also noted that this IPO securement offers a way for its private equity owners, Clayton, Dublier & Rice LLC and KKR & Co LP, to sell their own shares in the company after a prospective sale of US Foods to Sysco Corp was blocked last year by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.
US Foods’ IPO was only beat out by MGM Growth Properties LLC’s initial public offering of $1.2 billion last month, and is the third private equity-backed IPO to have raised more than $1 billion since the start of 2015.
Stay with AndNowUKnow as we watch how its public stature will affect the company.
