Costa Group float brings in $millions

THE SHARE price of Geelong’s biggest company, Costa Group Holdings Limited, has eased to $2.18 after listing on Friday with a starting price of $2.25.
The float has been priced from $2.20 to $2.70, expecting to raise between $541 million and $637 million.
The company, with an Australian Stock Exchange code of CGC, is valued at $850 million.
Its net profit for 2015/16 is forecast to be $47.6 million, excluding float costs, with revenue of over $700 million this year.
Joint owners Costa and US investors Paine and Partners will retain a 10.5 and 12.4 per cent stake respectively.
Now the largest grower of berries, mushrooms, glasshouse tomatoes and citrus, Costa has major joint ventures in blueberry farms in Morocco and China.
In a statement, Costa Group said the market size of these categories was estimated to be approximately $3 billion in 2014.
“Costa’s business started in a fruit shop that was opened more than 120 years ago and over the decades Frank Costa and his family have built the business into a true success story,” said Costa chairman Neil Chatfield.
“This is a significant new phase for Costa and through our scale, national reach and product quality we are well positioned to capitalise on future growth opportunities, including further investment in produce categories that enable year round production and supply to Australian retailers and consumers,” said Mr Chatfield.