Black Rock Coffee Bar wants to price its shares between $16 and $18 in its upcoming initial public offering, according to a new federal securities filing on Tuesday, setting the stage for the industry’s first IPO in two years.
That would raise up to $265 million, if the shares trade at the higher end of that range.
That would also give the company a market capitalization of $861 million.
Black Rock operates 158 locations, mainly in the West and Southwest, and is based in Scottsdale, Arizona. The company’s sponsor is Cynosure Group, a Salt Lake City-based investment firm that took a stake in Black Rock in 2020.
The company plans to list its shares on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol BRCB.
The offering would be the restaurant industry’s first since Gen Korean BBQ in 2023. That was the second IPO that year following the offering of the fast-casual chain Cava.
Consumer offerings have generally been rare, thanks largely to a volatile stock market and uncertain economy. Restaurant IPOs have been sporadic, with several offerings in 2021, only for inflation to freeze the market until Cava’s offering in 2023.
The volatility of that market has kept a number of companies from going public, notably the fast-casual operator Panera Brands. A successful offering of a company like Black Rock might open the door for other industry IPOs in the near future.
Same-store sales at Black Rock rose 10.9% in the second quarter and store-level profits increased 28%. The chain’s adjusted EBITDA, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, was up 30% in the first half of this year.
(Read more about the Black Rock IPO here.)
The offering comes during a notably strong period of growth for some beverage chains. Dutch Bros, the most successful of the 2021 offerings, is now the country’s third-largest coffee concept after Starbucks and Dunkin’.
But several other high-growth beverage brands are coming up, including drive-thru concepts 7 Brew and Scooters.
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