News
12.05.2008
Ukraine Poultry Firm MHP Valued At $1.7 Bln In IPO
Mironovskiy Hleboproduct (MHP), Ukraine's biggest poultry producer, will seek to raise about $322.5 million in an initial public offering in London that would value the firm at $1.7 billion.
The company, which also produces grain, said in a statement on Friday it had priced the IPO at $15 per global depositary receipt (GDR). Each GDR represents one ordinary share. The offering comprises 10.75 million existing ordinary shares in the form of GDRs, offered by WTI Trading Ltd (WTI), and 10.75 million new GDRs, together representing around 19.41 percent of MHP's increased share capital. MHP also said WTI had granted an over-allotment option to the joint bookrunners -- Morgan Stanley and UBS -- to purchase or procure purchasers for up to 3.225 million additional existing ordinary shares in the form of GDRs. If the option is exercised in full, the offering will equal around 22.32 percent of its share capital, the firm said, and IPO proceeds would amount to around $371 million. Unconditional trade in MHP's shares on the London Stock Exchange is expected to start on May 15. MHP has a 36 percent market share of chicken production in Ukraine and has one of the largest agricultural land portfolios with around 140,000 hectares under cultivation. It plans to use proceeds from the IPO to finance the expansion of its poultry and grain businesses, including potential land purchases and acquisitions in the Ukrainian agricultural market. In 2007, MHP said it had revenue from continuing operations of $478 million and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of $164 million.
www.guardian.co.uk
