Libstar Sells Shares in Johannesburg at Bottom of Price Range

(Bloomberg) -- Libstar Holdings Pty Ltd. sold stock at the bottom of its price range, yet still raised about 3 billion rand ($238 million) to pay down debt and free up funds to pursue growth.

The South African owner of Lancewood cheese, which also supplies Woolworths Holdings Ltd.'s own-branded honey and spices, placed shares at 12.50 rand each, compared with a target of 12.50 rand to 16 rand, the company said in a statement Friday. That raised 1.5 billion rand, while existing shareholders led by Abraaj Group Ltd. sold shares worth the same amount.

The Johannesburg initial public offering fared better than that of Consol Holdings Ltd., Africa's biggest glass-packaging maker, which scrapped a share sale last month. The listing had attracted low investor demand, people familiar with the matter said at the time. Consol was seeking to raise 2.7 billion rand.

Libstar's shares are due to start trading on May 9.

JP Morgan Chase & Co. and Standard Bank Group Ltd. acted as joint bookrunners.

To contact the reporter on this story: John Bowker in Johannesburg at jbowker2@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anthony Palazzo at apalazzo@bloomberg.net, John Viljoen, John Bowker

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