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Dean & Deluca cancels IPO
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January 11, 2001: 10:00 a.m. ET
Specialty foods retailer cites unfavorable market conditions
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Gourmet and specialty foods company Dean & Deluca Inc. Thursday became the latest high-profile company to yank its plans for an initial public offering.
The New York-based retailer withdrew its request from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to raise $69 million in the open market, citing unfavorable market conditions.
The withdrawal is but the latest blow to the new issues market, which has seen such well-known companies as Internet portal Alta Vista and online shopping site Mercata cancel plans for public offerings this month alone. Mercata has since decided to go out of business.
A sharp downturn on Wall Street since last September has slowed the rate of new issues that were willing to brave the volatile conditions to a crawl, while dozens of companies have decided to either postpone or cancel their IPO plans in recent months.
Still, many of the withdrawals have been high-tech or Internet companies and not "old economy" retailers like Dean & Deluca, which have continued to pursue their offerings buoyed by the success of such firms as Krispy Kreme Doughnuts (KREM: Research, Estimates) and California Pizza Kitchen (CPKI: Research, Estimates) last year.
Earlier this week, Peet's Coffee & Tea Inc., a specialty coffee roaster, announced it is proceeding with its IPO plans and expects to price its 3.3 million shares at between $10 and $14 per share later this month.
But Dean & Deluca lacked one characteristic evident in nearly every successful IPO the last few months: profitability. The company lost nearly $9 million last year on sales of $59.6 million, and has not posted an annual profit since 1993.
The company was planning to use proceeds from the stock sale to open more specialty cafes, market its Internet operations and expand its distribution facilities. 
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Dean & Deluca
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