Bakkavor, a supplier of pizzas and ready-made meals to some of the UK’s biggest supermarkets, is reportedly considering an initial public offering of shares that could value the company at GBP1bn (US$1.3bn).
The London-based firm, owned by brothers Icelandic Lydur and Agust Gudmundsson, had been said to have touted the idea of a share listing in January.
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This weekend, The Daily Telegraph reported HSBC and Morgan Stanley had been appointed to lead the float, while Barclays, Citigroup and Rabobank are helping manage the sale, the Telegraph reported. Rothschild is acting as adviser.
A Bakkavor spokesperson declined to comment when contacted by just-food today (24 July).
In January 2016, the Gudmundssons, who founded Bakkavor in 1986, teamed up with US hedge fund The Baupost Group to take control of the UK-based own-label supplier.
At the time of the Gudmundssons were minority shareholders in the business. In 2010, in the wake of Iceland’s financial crisis of 2008, the Gudmundssons entered into a debt-for-equity swap with institutional investors that reduced their stake to 33%. Lydur is chairman and Agust CEO.
Bakkavor, which is the UK’s biggest maker of hummus, owns 100% of the company’s ordinary shares after completing a buyback last year. It booked revenue of GBP1.76bn in 2016 and pre-tax profit of GBP63.1m, up 5% and 28% from a year earlier, respectively, according to its consolidated income statement posted on the website. Operating profit, or EBIT, stood at GBP91.5m, an increase of 2%.
