NEW YORK: Krispy Kreme Inc priced its US initial public offering (IPO) below a marketed range to raise US$500mil (RM2bil), short of the US$640mil (RM2.7bil) it had sought.

       The company said in a statement that it sold more than 29 million shares for US$17 (RM70.60) each.

       While the size of the sale was expanded from the almost 27 million shares that Krispy Kreme had planned to sell, the offer price was well below the US$21 to US$24 (RM87.30 to RM99.70) marketed range.

       Krispy Kreme is valued in the listing at US$2.78bil (RM11.6bil). The company had guided investors earlier that it could price its IPO below the target range, Bloomberg News reported.

       The debut comes during one of the busiest weeks on record for US IPOs, with US$13.6bil (RM56.5bil) of shares either already trading, or expected to begin trading, including listings by special purpose acquisition companies.This week’s listings included the second biggest of the year on a US exchange.

       In its debut after raising US$4.4bil (RM18.3bil) in an upsized transaction, Chinese ride-hailing company Didi Global Inc initially rose as much as 29% Wednesday but ended the day up only 1% from its IPO price.

       Krispy Kreme, owned by food and consumer-goods focused investment firm JAB Holdings BV, plans to use proceeds from the IPO to pay down debt and buy back shares from certain executives, as well as for general corporate purposes, according to its filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

       JAB will continue to own almost 78% of the company’s shares after the IPO.Krispy Kreme, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, is returning to the public market as the restaurant industry tries to recover from a challenging stretch brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. — Bloomberg