Iglo launches major debt refinancing

IPO?

The refinancing deal should free some room so that current owner Primera can take the company to the stock exchange. According to Reuters, Deutsche Bank, Nomura and Credit Suisse have been tasked with the debt refinancing.

Primera, which had bought Iglo from Unilever for 1.7 billion euro in 2006, has been looking to get rid of Iglo Group for some time now. It had almost sold the company two years ago, but a 2.8 billion euro deal fell through at the last minute. 

It was revealed last month that Iglo has been through a rough year, mainly because of several horse meat scandals, resulting in a 2.8 % turnover drop (to 1.52 billion euro) in 2013. Belgian numbers were hit hard and Iglo had to take a 25 million euro depreciation. The company blames the economic crisis, which has pushed consumers to store brands.