Douwe Egberts' parent valued at €15.6 billion in Amsterdam IPO

Coffee maker JDE Peet's, parent company of Douwe Egberts among others, made its stock debut on Amsterdam's AEX on Friday, one of only a handful of IPOs launched in the coronavirus crisis. Shares surged nearly 13 percent, valuing the company at 15.6 billion euros. At 09:55 a.m., they were trading at 35.55 euros, NY Times reports.

JDE Peet's sold 700 million euros in new shares, which the company will use to pay off debts. Existing shareholders Acorn and Mondelez sold another 1.55 billion euros worth of stock for a total of 2.55 billion euros. That amounts to 16.5 percent of the company's shares, according to the newspaper.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the coffee maker had to forego the usual pre-IPO roadshows, replacing them with digital-only variants. The gamble to launch an IPO in the midst of the pandemic paid off, drawing big-name investors like Quantam Partners and Fidelity Management and Research.

"We are thrilled to price this offer on Euronext Amsterdam during this extraordinary time," JDE Peet's CEO Casey Keller said, according to the newspaper. "Seeing the investor interest in JDE Peet's reinforces the belief in our strategy and solidifies our role as a global leader in coffee and tea."