Wild-Group prepares for an IPO
With the appointment of Rainer Grimm as CFO, the privately owned Wild, one of the world’s leading suppliers of natural flavour ingredients to the food and beverage industry, is getting into shape for an initial public offering.
Mr Grimm, 55, who took over his position on 1 January 2008, used to be CFO of the flavours and fragrances producer Symrise, whom he helped to take public in December 2006 thus achieving the largest IPO of the year in Germany with an offering volume of EUR 1.4 billion.
Wild’s owner, Dr. Peter Wild, is 66 years old and has no family heir. The IPO is expected to provide the company with a long-term perspective and fresh capital for its expansion plans.
It goes without saying that, even after the IPO, Dr Wild will hold a significant stake in the company which was founded by his father in 1931.
Wild currently employs 2,500 people worldwide. Its turnover is believed to be EUR 1 billion.
For more than a year Wild has been in the local Heidelberg news when, after a public spat with SAP’s founder Dietmar Hopp, Dr. Wild decided to throw out SAP and install Oracle’s software on their computers.
Apparently, Mr Hopp, who supports a local football club, wanted to build a stadium for his club on land, which Dr Wild had earmarked for a new production plant but had always been denied planning permission. Dr Wild argued, rightly, that if he cannot have his plant on this site, Mr Hopp could not have his stadium either. The whole affair became rather acrimonious. Although Mr Hopp eventually agreed built his stadium elsewhere, the quarrel put an end to a friendship and Dr Wild felt compelled to throw out SAP. According to German media, Wild has since become the “Cuba of SAP”.
