Coffee company JDE Peet's seeks to raise 700m euros in IPO

[AMSTERDAM] JDE Peet's Coffee, the owner of Jacobs, Douwe Egberts, Peet's Coffee and other brands, said on Tuesday it would seek to raise 700 million euros (S$1.083 billion) in an initial public offering of shares on the Euronext Amsterdam exchange.

In a statement, the company described itself as the world's largest pure-play coffee and tea group by revenue, and said it had operating profit of 1.26 billion euros on sales of 6.95 billion in 2019.

The firm's decision to press ahead with the listing, which would be one of only a few as well as this year's largest amid the coronavirus outbreak, reflects a recent stock market rally and the relative resilience of its core business.

JDE Peet's, controlled by German investor JAB, said it would use the money raised to repay debt, adding that the deal would include a secondary offering of undisclosed size.

Mondelez owns a stake of 26 per cent percent in JDE Peet's and is expected to sell shares.

REUTERS