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[DewDiligence]

Mead Johnson Set for $600M IPO Spinoff from BMY

[If the deal goes off within the planned range, it will be the largest IPO of any kind in almost two years.]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123317186821025295.html

›JANUARY 29, 2009
By LYNN COWAN | THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ASIA

February may be the month the market for U.S. initial public offerings breaks out of its slumber; Mead Johnson Nutrition Co., a maker of baby formula, on Wednesday joined two other deals scheduled to launch in two weeks.

Mead Johnson, which is being carved out of parent Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., aims to raise as much as $600 million the week of Feb. 9 through a listing on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol MJN.

Mead said it plans to sell 25 million shares with an estimated price range of $21 to $24 a share. The company had filed plans for an IPO of as much as $1 billion in common stock in September but withdrew that offering in December. If it sells all the shares at the top of the range, it would be the largest U.S. IPO since American Water Works raised $1.25 billion in April 2007.

Poor market conditions around the issue date could prompt some or all of these offerings to be canceled.

Though it wasn't unusual to see three IPOs in a single day prior to 2008, recent months have been a fallow period for new U.S. listings as a result of the broad market downturn.

The last deal was nearly 10 weeks ago, when online college Grand Canyon Education Inc. went public. The window for new offerings essentially closed in early August and there was no deal for 15 weeks, until Grand Canyon.‹