US Foods raises over $1bn in IPO

KKR and Clayton Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) portfolio company US Foods has raised $1.02 billion dollars in an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange, out of a possible $1.18 billion.

The float is the second biggest this year. The food company filed for the offering in February, after a merger with its main competitor Sysco was stopped by the US Federal Trade Commission. The companies had spent two years working on an integration plan to appease antitrust concerns, including the sale of some US Foods assets to Performance Food Group.

Since February, US Foods has bought three food companies, fruit and vegetable processor and distributor Freshway Foods, foodservice data and analytics company Food Genius and Cara Donna Provision, a wholesale supplier for restaurants and food service companies.

KKR and CD&R bought US Foods for $7.1 billion in 2007 as equal partners from Dutch retailer Royal Ahold, and made consolidation an important part of its strategy.

After paying a large dividend as well as the company’s debt KKR and CD&R doubled their investment on paper, according to the Wall Street Journal.

According to financial statements submitted to the SEC, US Foods holds $9.5 billion in assets and saw net sales of $17.2 billion and $137 million in operating income in the first nine months of 2015.