Tuesday, Dec. 08, 2009
Mead Johnson Nutrition
Nobody would have thought back in the dark days of February that 2009 might turn out to be a good year for initial public offerings. But it was, and the first of the year's IPOs — brought to the market on Feb. 11, after a three-month drought in new offerings — turned out to be perhaps the best. Mead Johnson, which was founded in 1905 and acquired by Bristol-Myers in 1967 before being spun off this year, offered a long history and reliable earnings that reassured skittish investors. But the global expansion of the middle class offered the promise of growing markets for its infant- and child-nutrition products (Enfamil is its best-known brand). As of late November, Mead Johnson's stock was up almost 90% from its $24 IPO price.