A logo outside a Cava restaurant location in Chantilly, Virginia.
Kristoffer Triplaar | USA | AP
Cava chain Mediterranean second announcement it has secretly filed for an initial public offering.
It is the first restaurant company this year to take the first step towards a mass market launch, following a drought IPO in 2022.
Cava Group was founded in 2006 and opened its first fast-casual restaurant in 2011, modeling your own Mediterranean meals after the recipe was popularized by Mexican Barbecue Chipotle. In 2018, they bought Zoes Kitchen for $300 million, privatizing the chain. The company is converting Zoes locations into new Cava restaurants, expanding its footprint.
Cava also sells dips and spreads, such as spicy hummus, tzatziki, and tahini, at Whole Foods and other grocery stores.
According to Pitchbook data, the company raised $230 million in April 2021 at a valuation of $1.71 billion.
Supply is subject to market conditions and other factors, Cava said Monday. Last year, war in ukraine, soaring inflation and recession fears have led many companies to cancel plans to list shares. Among them are Panera breadwas founded by investor Cava and Chairman Ron Shaich.
Investors have had mixed reactions to fast-casual restaurant chains over the past year. Chipotle shares jumped 13% as rising prices boosted sales growth, but the salad chain sweet has seen its shares lose more than half of their value due to concerns about the path to profitability.
Cava CEO Brett Schulman told CNBC in 2019 that the company was profitable at the time, which could make the offering more attractive to potential shareholders.
