UAP Holding Co. files $625 million IDS offering

GREELEY – UAP Holding Corp., the holding company for United Agri Products of Greeley, has filed for rights to sell up to $625 million in income deposit securities, or IDS shares.

IDS shares, a new form of security introduced last year, “represent shares of a company’s common stock and debt combined into one security that trades like a stock on an exchange,” according to a definition by the American Stock Exchange.

Underwriters for the UAP offering include CS First Boston, UBS Investment Bank, CIBC World Markets, Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch.

UAP Holdings is offering the IDS shares representing shares of Class A common stock and senior subordinated notes due 2014.

UAP has not announced a proposed trading symbol nor the market on which it would be traded.

UAP was a subsidiary of ConAgra Foods before company management, backed by a New York investment firm, bought the business in October 2003 for $600 million.

The company specializes in sales and distribution of crop protection chemicals, fertilizer, seed and other non-crop products. UAP, which has about 200 employees in Colorado, reported 2003 pro forma income before taxes of $58.6 million and sales of $2.4 billion.

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