Sale lets IFF pay down debt

Article Excerpt

INTERNATIONAL FLAVORS & FRAGRANCES INC. $121 is a buy. The company (New York symbol IFF; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 254.8 million; Market cap: $30.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.5; Dividend yield: 2.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.iff.com) merged with the nutrition and biosciences business of DuPont (New York symbol DD) in February 2021. DuPont shareholders now own 55.4% of the combined company, with IFF shareholders holding the rest. IFF has now completed the sale of its microbial control operations to German specialty chemicals maker Lanxess. This business makes substances that preserve and sanitize a variety of products such as paints and building materials. The company plans to use the proceeds of $1.28 billion to pay down the $7.5 billion it borrowed to finance the DuPont deal. Its long-term debt of $10.74 billion (as of March 31, 2022) is a manageable 35% of IFF’s market cap. The company also held cash of $657 million. IFF is a buy. buy…