Beyond Meat looks to raise $183.8 million in its IPO - CNBC

Beyond Meat said Monday that it expects its initial public offering to price between $19 and $21 per share, giving the company a market value as high as $1.21 billion.

According to its latest filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the El Segundo, California-based company plans to raise $183.8 million through the IPO. Beyond, which manufactures plant-based meat substitutes, plans to list on the Nasdaq Global Market with the ticker "BYND."

The company, which filed the paperwork for an IPO at the end of March, plans to use the proceeds from going public to invest in current and additional manufacturing facilities, research and development, and sales and marketing. It also plans to use the proceeds for working capital and general corporate purposes.

Burgers with its fake meat can be found at national restaurant chains like Carl's Jr. and T.G.I. Friday's. Consumers can also find Beyond's products at Whole Foods, Kroger and Target. Its high-profile investors include Bill Gates, Leonardo DiCaprio and Tyson Foods.

The company reported revenue of $87.9 million and a net loss of $29.9 million in 2018.

The number of Americans who choose vegan or vegetarian diets has remained stagnant over the last decade, but more are embracing "flexitarian" diets. Nearly 40 percent of Americans are trying to eat more plant-based foods, according to a Nielsen Homescan survey.

Beyond and rivals like Impossible Foods have taken advantage of the increasing public awareness about meat consumption's health and environmental risks. And unlike previous iterations of veggie burgers, the companies have created products that closely mimic the taste and texture of real meat.

Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Credit Suisse, Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Jefferies and William Blair are underwriting the IPO.

WATCH: Beyond Meat taps investment banks for IPO

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2019-04-22 14:10:02Z
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Kraft Heinz CEO Bernardo Hees to step down, will be replaced by AB InBev's Miguel Patricio - CNBC

Kraft Heinz CEO Bernardo Hees will step down on June 30, marking the embattled company's most significant executive shakeup since its formation four years ago.

Hees will be replaced by Miguel Patricio, who worked for two decades at beer giant Anheuser-Busch InBev, including as chief marketing officer from 2012 through last year.

Hees leaves at a critical time for Kraft Heinz, which is struggling to boost sales in the slow-growing food industry and facing questions from investors about the business model created by its second-largest shareholder, private equity firm 3G Capital.

Shares of Kraft Heinz, which are down roughly 20 percent this year, rose 2 percent on the news in premarket trading, giving it a market capitalization of $40 billion.

In February, Kraft Heinz delivered a trifecta of bad news: It reduced its dividend by 36 percent, wrote down its brands by $15 billion and disclosed an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission into its accounting and procurement practices.

That announcement sent Kraft Heinz's stock careening, wiping $16 billion off its market capitalization in one day. The company's share price is less than half what it was when it was created by 3G and Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway in 2015 through the merger of H.J. Heinz and Kraft Foods.

"I bring very different profile [than Hees]" said Patricio, referring in part to his background in marketing. "My profile can help the future. It's not about liking what happened, it's about understanding the future. We need to lead, not follow."

The incoming CEO said his focus will be on improving Kraft Heinz's speed, organic growth, brand building and making the company more consumer focused.

He would not comment on what mistakes he believes Kraft Heinz has made, and noted it was "very natural" for Hees to step down after six years on the job, two of which he spent leading Heinz.

Patricio told CNBC that Kraft Heinz Chairman Alexandre Behring approached him about becoming CEO a few months ago. He declined to say whether Behring approached him before or after Kraft Heinz's devastating earnings announcement.

Patricio said he met with all the members of the board, who voted for him unanimously. Kraft Heinz's board includes former Kraft Foods CEO John Cahill and Berkshire Hathaway board member Gregory Abel.

Hees decided to move back to 3G Capital to focus on other projects after completing his six-year stint at Kraft Heinz, a spokesman for the company said.

With the departure of Hees, one of the companies most closely associated with investment firm 3G Capital will no longer be run by a 3G partner. 3G Capital, a private equity firm with Brazilian roots, made its name rolling up some of the most iconic American companies into consumer giants. Hees has been at the forefront of those efforts, sitting as chief executive of Burger King Worldwide, H.J. Heinz and later Kraft Heinz.

In those roles, Hees helped implement 3G's aggressive approach to cost-cutting and budgeting that served to carve out industry-leading margins and to fund its acquisitions. He oversaw Kraft Heinz as it extracted roughly $1.7 billion in savings from merging the two food companies. The company helped support those savings by slashing its research and development department, limiting trade spending and tightening marketing dollars, analysts say. It also laid off thousands of employees, including those with years of marketing experience in the consumer goods industry.

But as Kraft Heinz's sales have stalled, analysts have wondered whether 3G cut too deeply and quickly, starving brands of investment needed for growth. They have questioned whether that approach works without deal-making to give the company needed fat to cut. Kraft Heinz has not done a major acquisition since its 2015 merger.

Those questions have carried over to other companies affiliated with 3G Capital, like Patricio's former employer, AB InBev — the beer company was created by the founding principals of 3G Capital. While not a portfolio company of 3G Capital, it shares a 3G affinity for cost-controls and acquisitions.

After halving its dividend last year to pay down debt, AB InBev had its own executive shakeup. It announced in March it was bringing back two former AB InBev executives to join the board.

Patricio, a native of Portugal, said he has no affiliation to 3G, stressing he has new perspective to share in the CEO seat at Kraft Heinz.

"I bring a very different background with my experience in consumer food," he said.

During his run at AB InBev, Patricio oversaw brands including Corona, Budweiser and Stella Artois, accelerating their organic sales growth up to the high single digits, nearly a third of the company's organic growth in 2018. In his final year as chief marketing officer, AB InBev was the most awarded brand owner at the Cannes Lions awards for advertising and creative communications.

Patricio's prior roles at AB InBev include stints as president of Asia Pacific for four years and president of North America for two years. He also had positions at Philip Morris, Coca-Cola and Johnson & Johnson.

The food industry, though, is more fragmented and diverse than the beer sector, an attribute Patricio said does not worry him.

"Consumer goods are consumer goods," he said, adding, "Where there is transformation, there is opportunity."

Still, there is ample upheaval. Upstart food brands sprout up seemingly daily, catching consumers' attention and stealing market share from all legacy companies from General Mills to Kellogg. Retailers, under their own competitive pressure, are also squeezing Big Food's once prized profit margins and filling their shelves with their own products, undercutting legacy brands on price.

Kraft Heinz has iconic brands, like Philadelphia cream cheese and Heinz ketchup, that still have global appeal and dedicated spots in pantries and refrigerators. The Heinz brand has grown 26 percent over the past six years, according to Nielsen.

But it is also saddled with others, like Maxwell House coffee and Oscar Mayer meats, that have seemingly lost touch with consumers and struggled to compete against cheaper store-owned competitors.

Kraft Heinz under Hees said it was weighing divestitures of brands that gave it "no competitive edge" as it looks to bring its leverage down to three times earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortization, rather than the four times at which analysts say it is currently pegged. It has $3 billion of debt that will be due in 2020, which may have to be refinanced.

Maxwell House coffeeand Breakstone's cottage cheese and sour cream are among those Kraft Heinz is evaluating, CNBC has reported.

Patricio declined to comment on potential divestitures or acquisitions.

Regarding how he will define success at Kraft Heinz, he said he will look at both the top and bottom-line, without giving specific targets.

"It's like sports, either you win, or you do not."

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2019-04-22 13:00:21Z
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Oil Prices, Tesla, Boeing, Whirlpool and 420 - 5 Things You Must Know - TheStreet

Here are five things you must know for Monday, April 22:

1. -- Stock Futures Slide as Oil Prices Spike

U.S. stock futures pointed lower Monday as investors came off the three-day Easter break confronted with a sharp spike in oil prices on reports the State Department was preparing to announce that the U.S. will impose sanctions on any countries that refuse to stop importing Iranian oil.

Contracts tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 81 points, futures for the S&P 500 declined 9.15 points, and Nasdaq futures tumbled 33.25 points.

West Texas intermediate crude oil, the U.S. benchmark, was rising 2.3% to $65.55 a barrel after the Washington Post reported that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will announce Monday that as of May 2, the State Department will no longer grant sanctions waivers to any country "that is currently importing Iranian crude or condensate." Futures for Brent crude, the European benchmark, rose 2.5% to $73.74 a barrel.

Iran is one of the world's largest global producers of oil, pumping out about 4.5 million barrels a day in 2018, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. But its output is far lower than that of the U.S., Saudi Arabia and Russia. The U.S., for example, produced nearly 11 million b/d during the same year, followed closely by Russia and Saudi Arabia.

2. -- Whirlpool and Halliburton Report Earnings Monday

Halliburton ( HAL - Get Report)  posted stronger-than-expected first-quarter revenue as a surge in global oil prices helped boost international drilling activity and offset rising costs in North America.

 

 

Kimberly-Clark's  ( KMB - Get Report)  first-quarter earnings topped estimates and the company confirmed its full-year outlook as sales from its personal care division, which includes Huggies diapers, offset weaker revenue from its tissue segment.

 

 

 

The economic calendar in the U.S. Monday includes Existing Home Sales for March at 10 a.m. ET.

3. -- Tesla to Discuss Its Autonomous Future

Tesla (TSLA - Get Report) will show off its autonomous driving capabilities at an event on Monday.

The electric vehicle maker and its CEO, Elon Musk, are expected to talk about the future of the company's autonomous driving system, highlighting its capabilities, laying out an aggressive rollout timeline and talking up the potential for autonomous ride-hailing and ride-sharing.

While autonomous driving has improved rapidly, fully autonomous level 5 capabilities across the entire country won't be seen anytime soon, according to TheStreet's Bret Kenwell. That doesn't mean some of the features and capabilities Tesla talks about on Monday won't come to fruition, but at the very least it may not be in the timeframe some investors are thinking. Musk already has talked about the price of Tesla's autonomous driving features increasing substantially in the future and said he believes buying a Tesla will result in an appreciating asset, rather than a depreciating asset.

The event, from Tesla's headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif., will begin at 2 p.m. ET, and comes two days before the company issues quarterly earnings.

Meanwhile, Tesla disclosed Friday it plans to cut its board to seven from 11 in a move the company said would allow the board to act more quickly and efficiently.

The four departing directors aren't leaving because of any disagreement with the company.

The board has come under closer scrutiny since August, when Musk tweeted that he had lined up funding and was considering taking Tesla private at $420 per share. That didn't happen, and regulators accused Musk of securities fraud.

4. -- Boeing Plant in South Carolina Plagued by 'Shoddy Production' - Report

A Boeing (BA - Get Report) plant in South Carolina that makes the 787 Dreamliner has been plagued by shoddy production and weak oversight that have threatened to compromise safety, said a report over the weekend in The New York Times.

A Times review of hundreds of pages of internal emails, corporate documents and federal records, as well as interviews with more than a dozen current and former employees, "reveals a culture that often valued production speed over quality. Facing long manufacturing delays, Boeing pushed its work force to quickly turn out Dreamliners, at times ignoring issues raised by employees," the report said.

Qatar Airways stopped accepting planes from the factory after manufacturing mishaps damaged jets and delayed deliveries, the Times reported, while workers have filed nearly a dozen whistle-blower claims and safety complaints with federal regulators, describing issues like "defective manufacturing, debris left on planes and pressure to not report violations," the Times reported. Others have sued Boeing, saying they were retaliated against for flagging manufacturing mistakes, according to the newspaper.

The Times report comes as Boeing deals with the grounding of its workhorse 737 MAX following two deadly crashes.

A team of international experts will meet next week for a review of the Boeing (BA - Get Report) 737 MAX to check fixes to the aircraft's automated flight system.

Civil aviation authorities from nine nations and international bodies - including Australia, China, Japan and the European Union - have confirmed they will join in the so-called Boeing 737 MAX Joint Authorities Technical Review, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Earlier in April, the FAA created the review team, which has participants from NASA, the FAA, and other authorities. It's chaired by Chris Hart, a former head of the National Transportation Safety Board.

The Boeing 737 MAX was the aircraft involved in the two fatal crashes in October and March over Indonesia and Ethiopia. Hundreds of passengers and crew were killed in the accidents. Since the accidents, authorities around the globe ordered the aircraft grounded, and airlines, such as American Airlines ( AAL - Get Report) , have canceled flights with the jets through summer.

5. -- CBD Burgers Are a Hit at Carl's Jr. in Denver

CBD burgers from Carl's Jr. were a smoking success on Saturday, April 20 (or 420 - the international stoner holiday).

According to Alex McConnell, the Carl's Jr. district manager, the restaurant in Denver hosting the promotion "had a full parking lot (and) people waiting in the drive-thru" just before its 6 a.m. opening, said a report from Leafly.

"As soon as we opened the doors we had about 30 people in line and about 10 cars deep (in the drive-thru) so we hit the ground running, that's for sure," he told Leafly.

The store reportedly sold 102 burgers in the first hour of the promotion, and around 274 by 9 a.m.

The Rocky Mountain High: CheeseBurger Delight sold for $4.20 each, with a two per customer limit. 

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2019-04-22 12:23:00Z
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Stocks fall at the open as the busiest week of earnings season kicks off - CNBC

Stocks traded lower on Monday as Wall Street braced for the busiest week of the earnings season.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 83 points, while declines in the financials and industrials sectors pushed the S&P 500 down by 0.3%. The Nasdaq Composite also slipped 0.3%

Boeing contributed the most to the Dow's losses, falling 1% after The New York Times reported that workers at the company's 787 jet plant have complained about shoddy production and bad safety practices.

More than 140 S&P 500 companies are scheduled to release their quarterly results this week, including Coca Cola, Procter & Gamble, United Technologies, Verizon, Twitter, Lockheed Martin and eBay. Facebook, Microsoft and Tesla Motors are also set to report later this week.

Halliburton and Kimberly-Clark are among the companies that reported better-than-expected quarterly results on Monday morning. Their shares rose 2.5% and 3.2%, respectively.

So far, the majority of corporate earnings reports have topped expectations. FactSet data shows 76.5% of the S&P 500 companies that have posted earnings have surpassed analyst estimates. Analysts came into the season with low expectations for the season, forecasting a 4.2% drop in profits.

"Considering the bar has been set very low for first-quarter profits, the likelihood is that any surprises could be on the upside," said Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at Baird, in a note. "Historically, stocks have done best when earnings gains have been modest as opposed to when earnings growth has been strong."

The broader market also fell after the South China Morning Post reported China's policy-making committee will pursue structural changes to its economy, rather than add stimulus. Chinese stocks closed sharply lower overnight, with the Shanghai Composite losing 1.7% while the Shenzhen A Shares index declined 1.5%.

Wall Street also focused on the oil market as U.S. crude rose 2.2% after the Trump administration said it will not allow the purchase of Iranian oil by some countries. The move could take about 1 million barrels per day out of the oil market. Energy shares rose along with oil prices. The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) traded 1.1% higher, led by Halliburton and Hess.

On the data front, existing home sales for March are expected at 10 a.m. ET.

—CNBC's Holly Ellyatt contributed to this report.

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2019-04-22 13:31:14Z
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Ghosn lawyer requests bail after ex-Nissan chair indicted for 4th time - Fox Business

TOKYO, April 22 (Reuters) - Japanese prosecutors indicted Carlos Ghosn on Monday on another charge of aggravated breach of trust, a Tokyo court said, the fourth charge against the former Nissan Motor Co Ltd chairman, which his lawyers met immediately with a bail request.

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The charge came on the day Ghosn's latest detention period was set to expire. Ghosn had been out on bail when authorities arrested him for a fourth time on April 4 on suspicion he enriched himself at a cost of $5 million to the automaker.

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"We are confident that we have the evidence to successfully prosecute all four cases," an official from the prosecutor's office said at a briefing after the indictment was announced.

Ghosn has denied all four of the charges, which include understating his income, and said he is the victim of a boardroom coup. He has accused former colleagues of "backstabbing," describing them as selfish rivals bent on derailing a closer alliance between Nissan and its top shareholder, France's Renault SA.

"Carlos Ghosn is innocent of the latest charges brought against him by the Tokyo prosecutors, aided and abetted by certain Nissan conspirators," a Ghosn representative said in a statement.

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The case has exposed tensions in the Nissan-Renault alliance forged by Ghosn some two decades ago when the French automaker invested in Nissan, then on the brink of bankruptcy - a deal that gave Renault control over its larger partner.

Nissan is due to reject a management integration proposal from Renault and will instead call for an equal capital relationship, the Nikkei newspaper said on Monday, citing sources.

Ghosn's arrest has also focused a harsh light on Japan's judicial system, which critics refer to as "hostage justice" as defendants who deny their charges are often not granted bail.

Under Japanese law, prosecutors are able to hold suspects for up to 22 days without charge and interrogate them without their lawyers present. In accordance with these terms, prosecutors had to indict or release Ghosn by Monday.

CRIMINAL COMPLAINT

According to the latest indictment, Ghosn caused a total of $5 million in losses to Nissan from July 2017 through July 2018.

During that period, prosecutors allege two separate payments of $5 million were made from the account of a Nissan subsidiary into the account of an overseas dealership. A total of $5 million was subsequently transferred from the dealership's account to another account in which Ghosn had an interest.

Nissan said it had filed a criminal complaint against the former chairman in relation to the matter, saying it had determined that some of its overseas payments had been ordered by Ghosn for his personal enrichment.

The payments were "not necessary from a business standpoint," Nissan said in a statement. "Such misconduct is completely unacceptable, and Nissan is requesting appropriately strict penalties."

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A court would likely rule on the bail request on Tuesday, Ghosn's lead lawyer, Junichiro Hironaka, told reporters.

Before Ghosn's latest arrest, he had been out on $9 million bail for 30 days. He is now being held in the same Tokyo detention center where he was detained for 108 days following his initial arrest on the tarmac at a Tokyo airport in November.

Kyodo news agency previously reported, without citing sources, that Nissan funds had been shifted through a car dealer in Oman to the account of a company Ghosn effectively owned.

Sources have previously told Reuters that Renault had alerted French prosecutors after uncovering payments it deemed suspect to a partner in Oman.

Evidence sent to French prosecutors showed much of the cash was channeled to a Lebanese company controlled by associates of Ghosn, who holds Lebanese citizenship, the sources told Reuters.

Ghosn's French lawyer denied the allegations.

(Reporting by Chris Gallagher, Naomi Tajitsu and Tim Kelly; Writing by David Dolan and Naomi Tajitsu; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman, Christopher Cushing and Kirsten Donovan)

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2019-04-22 12:42:32Z
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Bed Bath & Beyond refreshes board as co-founders step down - CNBC

Bed Bath & Beyond said it appointed five new independent members to its board, replacing some directors including co-founders Warren Eisenberg and Leonard Feinstein, after facing pressure from a trio of activist investors to refresh its board.

Shares of the New Jersey-based company rose about 2% before the bell.

Last month, activist investors Legion Partners Asset Management, Macellum Advisors GP, and Ancora Advisors urged Bed Bath & Beyond to replace its entire board and oust Chief Executive Steven Temares.

The company said the activist group was invited to participate in the transformation of the board, but it declined.

Following the changes effective May 1, the board will comprise 10 directors, nine of whom are independent and six women, the company said.

Bed Bath & Beyond has struggled to keep pace with changing consumer tastes and shopping habits over the years, with sales growth spiraling down to just 1.1% last year compared with 22% in 2003, when Temares took over as CEO.

"The changes announced today reflect significant shareholder input and underscore our commitment to ensuring we have best-in-class governance," said Patrick Gaston, who was named an independent chairman.

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2019-04-22 10:22:30Z
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Renault launches new Nissan integration bid - Nikkei Asian Review

TOKYO -- Nissan Motor is poised to reject a management integration proposal from French alliance partner Renault, instead calling for a more equal capital relationship, sources familiar with the matter told Nikkei on Monday.

Renault, which relies on Nissan for revenue and technology, has long sought to make the ties between the automakers irreversible. The latest overture, made in mid-April, was the first since Jean-Dominique Senard became chairman of Renault and came just weeks after he said integration was not on the agenda.

Senard took over following the exit of Carlos Ghosn, who led both carmakers but is now facing allegations of misconduct in Japan. Nissan's stance raises questions about the companies' stated intentions to maintain a cooperative relationship.

In its proposal, Renault argued that an integration would maximize synergies within the French-Japanese alliance, which also includes Japan's Mitsubishi Motors. Nissan's management, however, feels the company has not been treated as Renault's equal under the existing capital ties and fears a merger would make that inequality permanent, the sources said.

The companies hold shares in each other, but Renault's holdings in Nissan total 43.3% -- nearly three times what Nissan owns in Renault. Nissan's shareholdings in its partner do not carry voting rights. Senard said in March that the companies were not currently discussing reworking the capital relationship.

Nissan executives believe Ghosn's emphasis on expansion hurt the automakers earnings. It appears they will reject Renault's proposal in part out of confidence that, with Ghosn out of the picture, they can now improve efficiency and enhance corporate value.

The latest push for integration did not come out of the blue. The French government, which is Renault's top shareholder with a 15% stake, informed Tokyo around mid-January that it would seek a management union under a holding company structure.

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2019-04-22 10:00:00Z
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