Aramark to rejoin stock market today

Aramark, the global food and concession provider for facilities from stadiums to prisons, is expected to formally rejoin the stock market today in a move that will raise as much as $834 million.

Along with a planned IPOP by the Hilton hotel group, it is among the largest deals in the latter part of the year and comes as big buyout groups test US investors' continuing appetite for their highly indebted portfolio companies in the final days of a record year for private equity-backed initial public offerings.

Aramark employs about 272,000 people and operates in 22 countries, including Ireland where it employs around 4,000 people. The company provides food services and catering at stadiums, hospitals, schools and universities.

It generated $13.9 billion in sales for its fiscal year to September 27th, up from $13.5 billion in the previous year. However, net income fell from $104 million to $69 million.

The IPO represents a significant moment in the career of Eric Foss, Aramark's chief executive, who for many years was a leading executive working with Indra Nooyi, the PepsiCo chief executive. Mr Foss was brought in last year with the aim of returning Aramark to public ownership.

Aramark's 2007 $8.3 billion take-private just before the financial crisis was led by Joseph Neubauer, then the company's chief executive, who holds a stake of about 10 per cent. JPMorgan Partners and CCMP Capital Investors also each own about 10 per cent and participated in the acquisition, which included about $2 billion of Aramark's debt.

Aramark has net debt of $5.7 billion and a total debt to operating cash flow ratio of 4.75 before its listing. The company, now controlled by Warburg Pincus, Thomas H Lee and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, plans to sell 36.25 million shares at $23 a share, giving it $5.3 billion market value. – (Additional reporting, The Financial Times Limited 2013)