Vegan burger maker Beyond Meat plans to raise up to $183.8 million in IPO
(Reuters) - Plant-based meat maker Beyond Meat Inc is planning to raise up to $183.8 million from an initial public offering, looking to tap into the growing popularity of veganism.
The company said it expects to offer 8.75 million shares, priced between $19 and $21 per share in the IPO, its latest filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission showed.
The higher end of the indicative price range gives the company a market value of $1.21 billion, based on 57.4 million outstanding shares, excluding the underwriters' option.
Investors in Beyond Meat include Tyson Foods, the largest U.S. meat processor, actor Leonardo DiCaprio and Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
The Los Angeles-based company in early January announced it was rolling out its plant-based burger at fast-food chain Carl’s Jr.
Plant-based meat substitutes have been gaining popularity as more attention is focused on the environmental hazards of industrial ranching.
Beyond Meat expects to receive gross proceeds of about $175.0 million from the offering, excluding the underwriters' option. Beyond Meat's existing stockholders will not sell any shares in the offering.
The company said it intends to use a bulk of the proceeds towards research and development, and building out manufacturing facilities.
Goldman Sachs, J.P.Morgan, Credit Suisse are the lead underwriters to the IPO.
(Reporting by Bharath Manjesh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli and Shailesh Kuber)
