Kraft Foods IPO sends no signal.

Investment News, June, 2001 by Benjamin, Jeff

While milestones are always interesting, and the media are as guilty as anyone of hyping such occasions, the initial public offering of Kraft Foods Inc. (KFT) last week shouldn't be interpreted as any kind of sign that the deflated IPO market is suddenly on fire again. Granted, the sheer size of the $8.7 billion Kraft offering ranks as the second-largest IPO ever by an American company, behind last year's $9 billion spinoff of AT&T Wireless.

But regardless of the excessive level of armchair quarterbacking that led up to last week's pricing of the country's biggest food company, the total sale price of the 16% share of Kraft that was spun off by Philip Morris Cos. Inc. (MO) was bound to be jumbo. As IPO.com CEO Marc Baum points out, Kraft is a...

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