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Jun 26, 2020 - Economy & Business

Albertsons IPO raises below its initial plans at $16 a share

Dan Primack
Safeway food store company logo above store entrance, northern Idaho. (Photo by: Don & Melinda Crawford/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Safeway food store company owned by Albertsons. Photo: Don & Melinda Crawford/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Albertsons, an Idaho-based grocer whose brands include Safeway, raised $800 million in its IPO. The Cerberus-owned company priced 50 million shares at $16, below initial plans to offer 65.8 million shares at $18–$20, for an initial market cap of $7.7 billion.

Why it matters: This is one of very few 2020 IPOs to majorly miss expectations, and came on the same night that six other issuers beat their targets.

  • Third time's a charm: Cerberus Capital Management first tried to take Albertsons public in 2015, but didn't succeed. It then tried in 2018 to merge Albertsons with drug store chain Rite Aid, but that deal died due to investor and shareholder advisory firm opposition.
  • The bottom line: "Rival supermarket chain Kroger Co. said last week that the surge in demand for essential goods it saw during the coronavirus outbreak was fading, as American households reconsider their needs." — Joshua Franklin, Reuters
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