Dutch Bros Coffee wants to go public.
The Grants Pass, Ore.-based drive-thru coffee chain on Tuesday said that it has confidentially filed documents with federal regulators for a proposed initial public offering of its stock. The company said that the number of shares and the price range for the proposed IPO have not yet been determined, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has to review the filing.
Still, it marks the second such filing by a restaurant company this year. The doughnut chain Krispy Kreme filed its IPO documents in May to raise $100 million from public investors.
Either way, the filings suggest that the equity markets have reopened for restaurants after a six-year-long drought in which only one company, Kura Sushi in 2019, has gone public. Valuations for restaurant companies, and especially restaurant companies that have strong takeout strategies, as Dutch Bros does, have taken off recently as investors look toward a post-pandemic environment.
Dutch Bros was said to be considering a public offering. It received a minority investment from the private equity group TSG Consumer Partners in 2018 and an offering would be the first step toward an exit.
Dutch Bros operates more than 400 locations and generated $584 million in system sales last year, according to data from Restaurant Business sister company Technomic. Its sales growth last year bested most of its coffee rivals including Dunkin’, Starbucks, Tim Hortons, Caribou and Peet’s.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a Restaurant Business member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.