SWITZERLAND. gategroup Holding, together with its shareholder HNA Group, has announced today it will not pursue its planned Initial Public Offering (IPO) and listing of its shares on the SIX Swiss Exchange.
The companies cited “a gap in valuation under current market conditions” as the reason behind the withdrawal.
As reported, gategroup, the world’s largest provider of airline catering services by revenue, originally planned its IPO to take place at the end of Q1 or in Q2.
“We will continue to implement our Gateway 2020 strategy, which has positioned gategroup as the market leader and allowed us to double results over the past two years,” said gategroup Holding CEO Xavier Rossinyol.
“We remain committed to continue generating value for our customers and shareholders,” he added.
Over the past two years, the company has been focusing its business activities on core competencies of airline catering and retail onboard, and has expanded its global footprint and increased both revenue and profit.
“Proceeds from the IPO will provide the company with enhanced flexibility to, among other things, continue delivering under the Gateway 2020 strategy and exploit future growth opportunities,” the group stated previously.
Earlier this month, gategroup revealed HNA Aviation (Hong Kong) Airline Catering Holding Co. Ltd), an arm of the debt-laden HNA Group, intended to sell the majority of its holdings in the company. HNA has indicated its plan to remain a “long-term anchor shareholder”, according to gategroup.
HNA Group believed “the envisaged IPO will allow gategroup to bring new, innovative products and services to the market and to expand in new markets”, CEO Adam Tan previously stated.
