SkinnyPop Maker IPO On Tap

(RTTNews) - Amplify Snack Brands, Inc., the maker of SkinnyPop popcorn, is expected to price its initial public offering Tuesday evening.

Fifteen million shares will be sold in the IPO by the selling shareholders, which include certain directors and officers of the company. The underwriters have the option to buy up to an additional 2.25 million shares from the selling shareholders at the initial price to the public less the underwriting discount.

The IPO is expected to be priced between $14.00 and $16.00 per share.

The company's common stock has been approved for listing on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "BETR".

Amplify Snack Brands filed for its IPO on Form S-1 registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in late June.

As of June 30, investment funds affiliated with private equity firm TA Associates owned about 74.7% of Amplify Snack Brands' issued and outstanding common stock, with the remainder owned by certain of its current and former directors and employees and its predecessor companies.

Following the IPO, TA Associates will beneficially own about 58.3% of Amplify Snack Brands' issued and outstanding common stock, or 55.9% if the underwriters' option to purchase additional shares is exercised in full.

After the IPO, Amplify Snack Brands will have 75,000 shares of its common stock outstanding. At the high end of the estimated price range, it implies a market capitalization of $1.2 billion.

Austin, Texas-based Amplify Snack Brands is a snack food company focused on developing and marketing products that appeal to consumers' growing preference for Better-For-You, or BFY, snacks. The company's flagship brand, SkinnyPop, is a market leading BFY ready-to-eat, or RTE, popcorn brand. In April, the company acquired Paqui, an emerging BFY tortilla chip brand that has many of the same key taste and BFY attributes as SkinnyPop.

For the full year ended December 31, 2014, Amplify Snack Brands had pro forma net sales of $132.4 million and pro forma net income of $13.6 million.