IPO-pedia | Salad chain Sweetgreen is going public this Thursday

Sweetgreen plans to list on the NYSE on November 18, 2021 under the symbol SG. It plans to raise $300 million by offering 12.5 million shares at a price range of $23 to $25.

At the midpoint of the proposed range, Sweetgreen would command a fully diluted market value of $2.9 billion.

The joint bookrunners on the deal includes Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Allen & Company, Morgan Stanley, etc.

Restaurant chain Sweetgreen, founded in 2006, operates a chain of fast casual salad restaurants.

Sweetgreen’s owners states the company sells a whole lot more than just salads. In a 2018 interview with Recode, co-founder Jonathan Neman described the chain as a “food platform,” not simply a restaurant. Eventually, it hopes to build a full “food ecosystem” that can facilitate delivery, managing its supply chain, and operating its stores via its proprietary tech platforms.

Sweetgreen states that it is one of the fastest-growing restaurant companies in the US by revenue. As of September 26, 2021, the company owned and operated 140 restaurants in 13 states and Washington, DC, and it grew its restaurant presence at a 27% CAGR from 2014 to 2020.

In the prospectus, the company emphasizes its digital orders and digital-enabled delivery and pickup convenience, which are essentials in the post-pandemic era.

For its fiscal year to date through September 26, 2021,68% of its revenue came online orders made on the Sweetgreen app or third-party services such as DoorDash, Grubhub and Uber Eats.

47% of its revenue came from the Owned Digital Channels and the remaining 32% of revenue attributable to Non-Digital transactions made through the In-Store Channel.

Last year, Sweetgreen lost $142 million on revenue of $220 million in 2020. The loss was more than double the $67 million it reported for 2019.

The company states that the decline in revenue is due to the impact of a decline in foot traffic, temporary restaurant closures and reduced office frequency as a result of stay-at-home orders and other restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which primarily impacted the In-Store Channel.