American doughnut company and coffeehouse chain Krispy Kreme has reportedly raised USD 500 million after it priced its IPO significantly lower the marketed range.

The company priced the sale of its 29.4 million shares at USD 17 each, well below what it had set previously, making its current valuation USD 2.7 billion.

As per its filing in early May, Krispy Kreme had planned to sell 26.7 million shares at USD 21 – USD 24 per share, with which it would have raised USD 640 million at the top end of the range and reached a value close to USD 4 billion.

For the uninitiated, the food company opened its first store in North Carolina in 1937. It initially sold doughnuts in local grocery stores; however, its business now also includes k-cups for Keurig and cookie chain Insomnia Cookies.

Sources with knowledge of the matter cited that, in the fiscal year of 2020, the company made a sales record by selling about 1.3 billion donuts across 30 countries, with net revenues of USD 1.1 billion. A major factor behind the organization’s growth can be credited to the mounting demand for sugary snacks during the pandemic.

It is to be noted that the company’s first IPO was back in 2000 but its unit had to file for bankruptcy in 2005. It then went private under JAB Holding Co in a USD 1.35 billion deal in 2016.

After a five-year wait, Krispy Kreme is finally returning to trading amid one of the busiest weeks for stock market debuts in the United States and intends to get into the Nasdaq listing under the ticker symbol of ‘DNUT’.

Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan, Citigroup, and BofA Securities will be overseeing the offering process, cited sources close to the matter.

Sources:

https://www.reuters.com/business/krispy-kreme-raises-500-mln-us-ipo-2021-06-30/