Monday, April 10, 2000
Ahold, the food provider, today announced preliminary details of a global offering of Ahold common shares and/or convertible subordinated bonds of approximately Euro 3 billion. ABN AMRO Rothschild, Goldman Sachs International and Merrill Lynch International are the Joint Global Bookrunners and are in the process of preparing the offering. The offer will also contain a 'green shoe' option of up to 15%.
The proceeds of the offering will be used to finance Ahold's acquisition of U.S. Foodservice, a leading food distributor in the US, Aholds 50/50 joint venture with Scandinavia's leading food retailer, the ICA Group and several smaller acquisitions in Spain and Latin America. Royal Ahold common shares are listed on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange and Swiss Stock Exchange and, in the form of American Depositary Receipts, on the New York Stock Exchange. Ahold currently has 646 million common shares outstanding and 144 million cumulative preferred financing shares outstanding.
Detailed information about the offering will be included in the preliminary prospectus, available from bank syndicate members no later then May 1, 2000. The subscription period for the offering has been provisionally set from May 1 and ultimately up to May 15, 2000 and may be curtailed or extended at any time by agreement between Ahold and the Global Co-ordinators.
U.S. Foodservice
U.S. Foodservice is the second largest food distributor in the rapidly growing US food service market. Annual sales total approximately USD 6.8 billion. The company distributes food and related products to restaurants and institutional food service establishments across the United States. It services 143,000 customers in areas including sports stadiums, company cafeterias, government and military facilities. U.S. Foodservice provides a broad range of items including national signature and private-label brands as well as kitchen equipment and restaurant supplies.
The ICA Group
The ICA Group is a prominent, privately held, food retail company in Sweden and Norway, servicing 3,100 supermarkets, superstores and hypermarkets with 1999 sales of Euro 6.6 billion. The ICA Group was formed earlier this year through a merger between Sweden's ICA Handlarnas AB and Norway's Hakon Gruppen AS. The ICA Group also has a 50% stake in Statoil Retail, generating sales of Euro 2.9 billion through 1,500 Statoil gasoline stations in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Sales of Statoil Retail will not be consolidated in Ahold's accounts.
Royal Ahold
Royal Ahold is an international food provider with leading supermarket companies in the United States, Europe, Latin America and Asia. The company operates more than 4,000 supermarkets, superstores, hypermarkets and other retail formats with 1999 sales of Euro 33.6 billion, operating results of Euro 1.4 billion and net earnings of Euro 752.1 million. Ahold operates in 18 countries and serves more than 30 million customers every week.