Reuters reports that Olam International is considering raising about £2 billion ($2.8 billion) through a London listing of its food ingredients unit next year. The Singapore-based trading house seeks to boost its valuation and step up acquisitions. Olam seeking $3 billion for IPO
The company, one of the world’s biggest agricultural commodity traders, is listing Olam Food Ingredients (OFI) to focus on it and Olam Global Agri.
“It will be a substantial IPO. It will be amongst the larger IPOs done on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) in the recent past,” co-founder and CEO Sunny Verghese told Reuters in an interview.
The proceeds would allow OFI to accelerate growth and also accelerate acquisitions, he added. “One of the reasons that we are doing this exercise of re-organising is to make sure that we can focus and simplify a fairly diverse complex portfolio,” Verghese said. Olam seeking $3 billion for IPO
Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings became Olam’s controlling shareholder in 2014 after the trader’s accounting practices were questioned by short-seller Muddy Waters in 2012.
OFI’s portfolio includes cocoa, coffee and edible nuts, while Olam Global Agr comprises grains, edible oils, rice and cotton, among others.
