Mediterranean restaurant chain Cava confidentially files for an IPO

Mediterranean concatenation Cava announced Monday that it has confidentially filed for an archetypal nationalist offering.

It's the archetypal edifice institution truthful acold this twelvemonth to instrumentality the archetypal measurement toward a nationalist marketplace debut, pursuing a drought of IPOs successful 2022.

Cava Group was founded successful 2006 and opened its archetypal fast-casual determination successful 2011, modeling its build-your-own Mediterranean meals aft the look made fashionable by Chipotle Mexican Grill. In 2018, it bought Zoes Kitchen for $300 million, taking the concatenation private. The institution converted Zoes locations into caller Cava restaurants, rapidly expanding its footprint.

Cava besides sells its dips and spreads, similar spicy hummus, tzatziki and tahini dressing, astatine Whole Foods and different market stores.

The institution raised $230 cardinal successful April 2021 astatine a valuation of $1.71 billion, according to Pitchbook data.

Cava said Monday the offering is taxable to marketplace conditions and different factors. Last year, the warfare successful Ukraine, soaring ostentation and recession fears caused galore companies to scrap their plans to spell public. Among those companies was Panera Bread, which was founded by Cava president and capitalist Ron Shaich.

Investors person had mixed reactions to fast-casual edifice chains implicit the past year. Chipotle's banal has risen 13% arsenic terms hikes person fueled income growth, but crockery concatenation Sweetgreen has seen its shares suffer much than fractional their worth implicit concerns astir its way to profitability.

Cava CEO Brett Schulman told CNBC successful 2019 that the institution was profitable astatine that time, which could marque the offering much charismatic to imaginable shareholders.