Have you ever had a carton of Oatly? The plant-based Swedish milk company had an IPO this week. Jay Z and Oprah both invested in the company mid-2020 and received small minority stakes in the brand when it was valued at $2Bn. This week Oatly has been valued at $10-12Bn, giving them both a 6x return on their initial investment in just 10 months.
Oatly was started by brothers Rickard and Bjorn Oste. Using technology based on research from Sweden’s Lund University, the company turns fiber-rich oats into liquid food.
Oat milk, which was essentially non-existent in the US before Oatly’s entrance, saw a 151 per cent jump in sales in dollar terms at retail outlets during the 52-week period ended March 13, according to NielsenIQ.
The drink’s popularity has led to supply shortages in the US following a delay related to the coronavirus pandemic in the construction of a production facility, Bloomberg News reported last month.
Starbucks, which expanded the sale of Oatly products across its 15,000 US cafes on March 2, has said it’s dealing with temporary stock issues.
Oatly is an exclusive oat milk provider to Starbucks in the US and China. The company’s investors included Chinese conglomerate China Resources, Belgium-based private equity firm Verlinvest and Blackstone Group, among others, according to its filing.
Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase and Credit Suisse are leading the offering. Oatly plans to list its shares on Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol OTLY.
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