DISTRESSED DAILY: Chobani’s Debt Load Casts Shadow on IPO

Chobani LLC is asking investors to bet that it can overcome high leverage and widening losses as a publicly traded company.

The New Berlin, New York-based maker of Greek yogurt and oat milk reported $1.4 billion of debt and a leverage ratio of 7.3 times net debt to adjusted earnings as of Sept. 25, according to its Nov. 17 securities filing for an initial public offering. Its net loss widened to about $24 million for the nine-month period, while its earnings shrunk.

Chobani is the latest consumer product company to attempt to capitalize on red-hot equity markets, even though it ...