Ardagh pulls IPO citing market conditions

The Paul Coulson controlled Ardagh Group has pulled a planned share sale of its metal-containers unit, citing "challenging" market conditions for initial public offerings in the US.

Preparations for the IPO of the unit, known as Oressa Ltd, had been "virtually completed" before they was put on hold for now, according to a statement on Monday.

The company had previously planned to sell a minority stake before the end of the year, depending on market conditions.

“Current IPO market conditions in the US are challenging and, as a result,” it wouldn’t “be wise to seek to access the equity markets at this point in time,” Ardagh said in the statement. The company “plans to keep the situation under constant review and to remain ready to launch the IPO as soon as market conditions are suitable.”

Paul Coulson, who is one of the biggest shareholders in Ardagh, joins fellow Irishman and Digicel billionaire founder Denis O’Brien in pulling an IPO aimed to cut his company’s debt load and fund further growth. Coulson amassed billions of dollars of high-yield, high-risk debt for Ardagh as he powered through 10 acquisitions to create one of the world’s biggest packaging companies.

Meanwhile Ardagh also released third quarter results on Monday, revealing an 11 per cent increase in revenue, up to € 1.5bn. Earnings (EBITDA) for the three months to end September 2015, of € 277m represented an increase of 15 per cent over the same period in 2014. Pre-tax profits rose to €73m, up from a loss of €2m in the same period in 2014.

Bloomberg