Ingredients firm chooses London for major stock market listing

One of the world’s largest food businesses, Olam International, has chosen London for a stock market listing of its recently spun off ingredients division.

Olam Food Ingredients (OFI) said it plans to list on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) in the first half of next year, with a secondary listing on the Singapore stock market, where its parent company is based.

Bosses hope to tap into investors’ insatiable appetites for healthy eating and nutrition firms and could raise around £2 billion from the initial public offering (IPO).

The decision is a boost for the LSE as it attempts to woo new companies and move away from its reliance on natural resource firms as environmental concerns rise up investors’ agendas.

OFI works with some of the world’s best-known food and drinks brands, food manufacturers, retailers and restaurants, alongside several niche and premium regional players, focusing on natural and plant-based products.

It has 15,000 employees, operates more than 100 manufacturing plants and sources commodities including cocoa beans, coffee and nuts from 2.6 million farmers across the globe.

In 2020 it saw revenues of 9.1 billion US dollars (£6.6 billion) and underlying pre-tax profits of 600 million US dollars (£435 million).

Anantharaman Shekhar, chief executive of OFI, said: “The primary listing on the LSE will give us access to London’s large and diverse investor base, with its deep and liquid capital markets, and enable us to benefit from its strong understanding of and research coverage across the food and beverage sector.

“The concurrent listing in Singapore will also enable us to retain our strong local shareholder base and further tap into growing investor appetite in Asia.”

Olam is majority-owned by Temasek Holdings, Singapore’s state-backed investment company, which holds a 53.2% stake, with 15% owned by Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation.