Rich list member Paul Lederer set to float Primo Smallgoods

Australia’s IPO market looks certain to get off to a good start in 2011 with news that rich list member Paul Lederer is set to float his company Primo Smallgoods in a deal that is reported to value the company between $700-800 million.

Lederer and his family, who founded the business in 1985, own 70% of the business. Paul Lederer, who inherited his stake in the company from his uncle Andrew, who died in 2004, is listed on the BRW Rich 200 with a fortune of $344 million.

According to a report in the Australian Financial Review, Macquarie Capital has been given the mandate to run the float, although it is expected the business may also generate interest from international food companies in Australian and overseas.

Investment community sources say Primo management started meeting with potential institutional investors in late 2010.

With more than 2,000 employees and revenue of about $1.4 billion, Primo is Australia’s largest producer of smallgoods. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation is reportedly over $100 million.

In the last two decades, the company has expanded rapidly though acquisition. In 1991 it moved into Queensland through the purchase of Gold Cob Smallgoods, and seven years later the company branched out into abattoirs.

Primo established a manufacturing site in Melbourne in 1999 and in early 2009 it purchased insolvent competitor Hans Continental Smallgoods.

Exactly how much of the company the Lederer family may seek to retain after the completion of the float is unsure, although the proceeds of the float are expected to be used to pursue further growth opportunities.

A spokesperson for Lederer was unavailable for comment prior to publication.

Primo’s strong growth hasn’t been without some controversy. In June last year the company was hit with a record fine for labelling imported pork products as being Australian made.

A local court in Sydney fined the company $233,325 plus $200,000 in costs after it pleaded guilty to 63 charges, including 45 charges of misleading and deceptive conduct and 18 charges relating to a failure to comply with a Food Safety Standard which governs the traceability of a product’s origins.