Cantrell & Cochrane's planned flotation on the Dublin and London stock markets is likely to involve a substantial offering of shares to retail investors and up to 20 per cent of the company could be owned by small shareholders after the flotation is completed, informed sources have told The Irish Times.
Chief executive Mr Maurice Pratt would not comment on the forthcoming IPO but sources close to the company believe the strength of C&C's household-name brands will be attractive to investors. One source added that the flotation is also likely to prove attractive to the Republic's growing number of high net worth investors.
C&C's 2,000-plus staff, many of whom have long service, will receive €500 worth of shares for every year of service and will be given the opportunity to buy shares on the same terms.
It is expected private equity group BC Capital will probably halve its 90 per cent stake in C&C and retain a 40 to 45 per cent stake under a lock-in agreement.
The company will be raising a sizeable amount of money through new shares with the aim of substantially reducing its €526 million debt. Analysts have still to put a formal valuation on C&C but some believe, when the new shares are included. the group may have a market value of €1.5 billion.
Once the decision is taken to float - if July is missed, October is the next feasible date for the IPO - C&C and its advisers will embark on a hectic series of presentations to institutional investors in the Republic, Britain, Europe and North America.
"C&C will be marketed to investors as a growth story, as a substantial player in a sector with a record of resilience to economic downturns and also on the strength of its cash-generation," said one informed source.
The source added that C&C's ability to expand through acquisition once the IPO radically improves its balance sheet will also be a selling point.
Analysts believe C&C will try to use its new-found financial flexibility to make sizeable acquisitions overseas. The growing consolidation in the drinks industry mean that many smaller brands are going to come on the market in the next one to two years.
C&C has, in the past few years, bid unsuccessfully for some of the brands, most recently Four Roses bourbon. As a plc, it likely to be a more aggressive bidder for brands such as Allied Domecq's Tia Maria and even some of Pernod's non-global Irish whiskey brands such as Paddy.
Analysts also suggested one potential target for C&C is British group H.P. Bulmer, which owns the Bulmer brand in Britain - C&C owns the brand in the Republic and markets its own cider in Britain under the Magners brand.
