The terms of sale of the planned initial public offering of the Stock Spirits Group revealed that the shares would be priced anywhere from 210 to 260 pence each. This would put the market capitalization of Stock Spirits at GBP 420 million or USD 675 million at the least. The IPO would be held in London on October 21 and stocks would begin trading the following day.
Private equity firm Oaktree Capital Management owned Stock Spirits Group. Oaktree first attempted to list the distiller two years ago. However, the firm decided to retain ownership after Diageo Plc, Bain Capital and other potential bidders decided that the asking price was too high. At that time, Oaktree's asking price for Stock Spirits was EUR 700 million or USD 946 million.
Oaktree would be selling some stock in the IPO but would retain its position as the largest shareholder in the vodka maker after the transaction. Stock Spirits said last month it would be raising GBP 52 million in the share sale.
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