Plans to launch drinks firm onto the Irish Stock Exchange in July have beenwell received but much will depend on the price of shares

C&C will be the first large company to come to the Irish Stock Exchange since Eircom in 1999.

When shares in the drinks and snack food business are offered to investors this July, both small investors and the large institutions will be targeted. So far the float is being well received.

Small investors will be given the opportunity to buy a relatively modest amount of C&C shares and it is difficult to gauge how much of an appetite they will have for this proposition.

Those who held onto Eircom shares after the flotation may be reluctant to put their hard-earned cash back into the stock market. There are also signs that many investors are increasingly shying away from the equity markets following much volatility and uncertainty over the past 12 months and switching their funds into safer havens such as bank deposits.

Much will depend on the price of the shares, which will be detailed in C&C's prospectus published in mid June.

Fund managers contacted by The Irish Times yesterday were positive about the prospective new public company and said they would closely examine the prospectus to decide whether or how many shares they would buy.

C&C will be the first drinks company to float on the Dublin market adding greater diversity to the mix of stocks the fund managers can choose from.

"The company is of sufficient scale to be of interest. It will have a place in the market," according to Montgomery Oppenheim fund manager Mr Joe O'Dwyer.

The group is expected to debut with a market capitalisation of up to €1.4 billion, which would make it the 10th-largest stock on the exchange.

Mr Eugene Kiernan, fund manager at Irish Life, said he would have to wait and see the offer price but was favourably disposed towards investing in the company. "Some recent floatations in the UK have been overpriced. C&C and its advisers will be conscious of that."

C&C has established a solid track record, posting strong profit growth over the past 15 years. This, together with the leading brands it represents, will be carefully considered by investors.

In many ways, the company's "old economy" qualities, in-so-far as its business is readily understandable to the general public, should prove attractive. After the complexity of high-tech companies, investors can easily gauge how C&C makes its money because of the familiarity of brands such as Bulmers, Ballygowan, Club Orange and Tayto.

Mr Liam Igoe, an analyst at Goodbody Stockbrokers expects there will be good demand for the shares, particularly from Irish investors. "It's an interesting company. In the food and drinks sector it brings a company with very strong brands and high margins to go with that. It's also got a track record. I think there will be appetite."

The bulk of the shares will be purchased by the large investment institutions, which will get an opportunity to examine the group more closely during its two week roadshow at the end of June.

C&C is heavily reliant on the Irish economy where it generates 75 per cent of its profits. Executive chairman, Mr Tony O'Brien, pointed out that it was a well-diversified company with a wide range of top brands in both the alcohol, non-alcohol and snacks sector in Ireland. He also highlighted the continuing strong economic growth here, albeit somewhat slower than in previous years.

He stressed that the company's conversion to trade as a public company would offer it greater flexibility to grow and expand. It will be easier to make acquisitions, particularly in the drinks sector, and it will also help to reduce the amount of debt on its balance sheet.

C&C was formerly known as Cantrell & Cochrane, the drinks group established in 1968. It was formed through a merger of Allied Breweries and Guinness Ireland's Irish soft drink and cider businesses.

Allied Domecq bought Cantrell & Cochrane outright in 1998 by purchasing Guinness Ireland's interest. In 1999, its senior management, led by Mr O'Brien, participated in a management buy-out that was backed by BC Partners.

It is headquartered in Dublin with manufacturing and distribution facilities in Clonmel, Cork, Dublin, Newcastle West and Thurles.