Chobani secures $750 million investment from TPG

By Olivia Oran and Greg Roumeliotis

April 23 (Reuters) - Chobani said on Wednesday it has received a $750 million investment from private equity firm TPG, in a move that will spare the Greek yogurt company from a serious cash crunch, according to several people familiar with the matter.

The New Berlin, New York-based Chobani had run into liquidity issues resulting in part from the opening of its $450 million yogurt manufacturing plant in Idaho, which took longer to ramp up than the company anticipated, the people said.

The TPG investment comes with warrants that could give the private equity firm up to a 35 percent stake in Chobani down the line.

A Chobani spokesman declined to comment on the company's financial situation before TPG's investment.

Chobani hired Bank of America Corp to sell a minority stake in the company and had spoken to private equity firms and consumer companies to gauge their interest, Reuters first reported on March 11.

Founded in 2005 by Turkish immigrant Hamdi Ulukaya, Chobani started operating from a former Kraft Foods yogurt plant in South Edmeston, New York. Its product became one of the top-selling Greek yogurt brands in the United States.

Chobani's 2013 annual revenues exceeded $1 billion.

Greek-style yogurt, which is thicker, creamier and often higher in protein than other types of yogurt, now makes up more than 40 percent of the U.S. yogurt market, worth $7.4 billion, according to research firm Mintel.

Chobani competes with brands such as Danone SA's Oikos and General Mills' Yoplait.

(Reporting by Olivia Oran and Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Editing by Jan Paschal)