Deals & Deal Makers: Ahead of Kraft IPO, Philip Morris Seeks Input on Deal From Potential Investors

With an initial public offering of stock expected in mid-June, the pre-IPO "roadshow" for the Kraft deal hasn't even begun. But mutual-fund managers and other institutional investors say that in recent weeks, the IPO's underwriters, jointly led by Credit Suisse Group's Credi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Wall Street journal. Eastern edition
Main Author By Kate Kelly and Shelley Branch
Format Newspaper Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York, N.Y Dow Jones & Company Inc 14.05.2001
EditionEastern edition
Subjects
Deals & deal makers (wsj)
Initial public offerings
Institutional investments
Investments
Underwriting
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Summary:With an initial public offering of stock expected in mid-June, the pre-IPO "roadshow" for the Kraft deal hasn't even begun. But mutual-fund managers and other institutional investors say that in recent weeks, the IPO's underwriters, jointly led by Credit Suisse Group's Credit Suisse First Boston and Citigroup Inc.'s Salomon Smith Barney, have been "premarketing" Kraft to an unprecedented degree. Working under what one knowledgeable person described as an "aggressive time frame" mandated by Philip Morris Cos., the Northfield, Ill., food company's parent, underwriters were told to approach potential investors with a multi-page survey. The goal: to get early, specific feedback about the IPO and consensus on which consumer-products companies to use for benchmarking Kraft. The survey used a check-the-box format, as well as blank spaces to allow potential investors to flesh out their opinions. Underwriters then collected the reports and returned them to Philip Morris for evaluation.
ISSN:0099-9660