Anchor Glass Container Corp, the third-largest glass bottle maker in the U.S.A, returned to the public markets on 25 September 2003, with its IPO priced at the low end of its announced range.
At USD …
Anchor Glass Container Corp, the third-largest glass bottle maker in the U.S.A, returned to the public markets on 25 September 2003, with its IPO priced at the low end of its announced range. At USD 16 per share, the Tampa, Florida-based company offered 7.5 million shares, in the hope of raising USD 120 million. After opening up a cent, the share price moved up 2.81% by early-afternoon trading. At the close, the share price stood up 5% at USD 16.80, giving the company a market capitalization of USD 6.6 billion. One Standard & Poor“s analyst commented: “It“s a positive in terms of their ability to have access to the market. The IPO proceeds were used to redeem the preferred stock and accrue dividends. The rest of the proceeds increase the liquidity and will be used for capital improvement projects, which should help the business when completed.” Anchor Glass has been through several owners and two bankruptcy reorganizations since being stock market-listed in the 1980s. The company currently has 3,030 employees and USD 715.6 million in annual revenue. Ranked third behind Owens-Illinois Inc. and Saint-Gobain Containers in glass packaging production, Anchor Glass has a market share of about 18%. The company mainly serves the beverage and food industries and operates nine plants that produced 6.3 billion clear and colored-glass containers in 2002. Anchor Glass makes half its sales in beer bottles, the largest and fastest-growing segment of the industry. Its principle customer isAnheuser- Busch Co. Over the past year and a half, the company has invested about USD 128 million in its plants. It also recently signed a deal to supply nearly all of the 16-ounce bottles for Snapple, Nantucket Nectars and Yoo-hoo beverages, as well as for several Mott“s items. Once a subsidiary of bankrupt Consumers Packaging of Canada, Anchor Glass filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2002 and re-emerged in 2003 with plans to go public. Investment firm Cerberus Capital Management LP bought the company out of bankruptcy with about USD 100 million. Credit Suisse First Boston is acting as lead underwriter on the IPO, with Merrill Lynch & Co. and Lehman Brothers Inc. as co-managers.