Dole Files to Go Public

Dole Food Co. Inc. filed on Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission to sell shares of its common stock to the public. If the IPO occurs, it would be the third time that the Westlake Village produce company would go public. The company is currently owned by David Murdock, who bought it in late 2013 for $13.50 a share, a price that valued the company at roughly $1.6 billion, including debt. Murdock had long been the largest investor in Dole, which was founded in 1851 and is the largest banana producer by market share in North America and the second-largest pineapple producer in that market. In April 2013, the company divested its worldwide packaged foods and Asia fresh food businesses. Murdock rescued Dole from bankruptcy in 2001, took it private two years later and returned to the open market in 2009, only to privatize it again in 2013. The number of shares and the price range for the proposed offering as well as the stock exchange on which Dole will be listed have not yet been determined. Morgan Stanley & Co., Bank of America Corp. and Deutsche Bank AG are acting as the joint lead book-runners for the proposed offering.