The food ingredients business, owned by Singapore-based commodity trader Olam International Ltd., was planning a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange in the second quarter of 2022. Olam also planned a secondary listing in Singapore.
"However, in light of current market conditions as a result of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, we do not currently expect the IPO of OFI to take place during Q2 2022, as previously anticipated," the company said in a statement Thursday. "We remain committed to pursuing a public listing of the business and will evaluate the appropriate timing of such a listing on an ongoing basis, taking into account prevailing market conditions."
Olam's delayed IPO was revealed in a broader company statement that also announced the appointment of three nonexecutive directors to its board: Nancy Cruickshank, Nagi Hamiyeh and Sunny Verghese.
Global unrest since the Russia-Ukraine war has shaken capital markets worldwide, especially in Europe and the U.S., where few companies have gone public in early 2022. U.K. real estate investment company Co-Living REIT PLC delayed a London IPO last month, citing war tensions.
Yet some companies are braving the waters. European real estate firm Swedish Logistic Property AB saw shares jump 52% in debut trading Wednesday on the Nasdaq Stockholm after the company raised a $79.4 million IPO. Swedish Logistic's IPO marked the first new offering on the Nasdaq Stockholm in 2022.
New offerings are scarce as well in the U.S., which is also facing inflation worries and the specter of rising interest rates. Only one operating company has priced an IPO so far in March as of Thursday — British cannabis producer Akanda Corp. raised $16 million last week — while February generated the fewest proceeds from new offerings of any month since November 2018, according to research firm Renaissance Capital.
Olam, which supplies businesses and consumers with cocoa, coffee, edible nuts and other foods, was created as a separate unit in early 2020 following a reorganization of its parent company.
Counsel information for Olam was not immediately available.
--Editing by Janice Carter Brown.
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