C&C cancels flotation

Drinks and snack food giant Cantrell and Cochrane has postponed its much-trumpeted flotation on the Dublin and London stock markets until further notice.

The flotation was planned for Wednesday, but a one-line statement from the board of directors put paid to the IPO: “In the light of current equity market conditions, the board of directors of C&C Group has decided to withdraw the initial public offering.”

Staff and shopkeepers were expected to profit from the flotation, and the cancellation is seen as a major blow.

C&C employs 2,000 people in Belfast and has plants all over Ireland. It owns Tayto Crisps in the Republic and several drinks brands as well, including Magner’s cider, which has proved popular in the U.S.

With the stock market hitting a five-year low last week as confidence fell in the wake of the Enron, WorldCom and Xerox scandals, C&C’s flotation may have to wait some months.