Westrock Coffee (WEST): $6.89
Market Cap: $649.23M
Enterprise Value: $1.49B
More often than not, we see the same story play out when it comes to SPACs. The company (formed by combining a “blank check” shell company and a business looking to go public without a traditional IPO) will go public at the standard $10 per share, rise a little bit above that price, and shortly after plummet – never to reach that $10 level again. Westrock Coffee (WEST) managed to beat that SPAC curse for nearly two years after its business combination, but after August 2024, the stock dropped below $10 per share and hasn’t managed to recover.
Westrock Coffee is a company that we first noticed after a series of insider purchases in September 2022 by members of the Ford family (not the family associated with the automotive giant) who continued buying shares whenever there was a large dip in the company’s stock price. Chairman Joe Ford and his son Scott Ford (who serves as the CEO of the company) co-founded Westrock Coffee in 2009 and continue to lead the business today. There is a third generation of Fords who are also involved with the company – including COO Will Ford and Chief Trade and Risk Officer Sam Ford.