Private equity firm TPG Capital lent Chobani $750 million in 2014 and received warrants that could have been converted into equity. Chobani paid off TPG last year by selling a 20% equity stake to Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan, which Ulukaya described as a “long-term minority investor.”
Sales have improved in 2019 and annual revenues are around $1.5 billion, the company said. For now, Ulukaya said he sees no need to take Chobani public. Instead focusing on launching new products “in categories where we’ve never been before,” without elaborating on the products or timing.
“I’m not against an IPO,” he said. “I just have to do it for the right reason and at the right time.”
Ulukaya’s net worth was estimated at $1.1 billion last year, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. In 2015, he signed on to The Giving Pledge campaign, popularized by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, and promised to commit the majority of his personal wealth to end the global refugee crisis.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.