The Fresh Market, an Apollo-backed fresh food grocer with over 150 stores in 22 states, filed on Friday with the SEC to raise up to $100 million in an initial public offering. This is likely a placeholder for a deal we estimate could raise up to $250 million.
The Fresh Market provides high quality, fresh foods and difficult-to-find items in a small, intimate store footprint with high-touch guest service and exceptional cleanliness. The company maintains a supply chain and distribution partners that allow it to deliver food from farm to shelf in 14 days or less. It also has a dedicated team that sources local products to ensure differentiation from conventional retailers. The company went public in March 2011, raising $290 million, before it was acquired and taken private in 2016 by Apollo Global Management for $1.4 billion.
The Greensboro, NC-based company was founded in 1981 and booked $1.9 billion in sales for the 12 months ended April 30, 2021. It plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol TFM. The Fresh Market filed confidentially on March 12, 2021. Credit Suisse, BofA Securities, Barclays, Deutsche Bank, RBC Capital Markets, BMO Capital Markets, Guggenheim Securities, and Apollo Global Securities are the joint bookrunners on the deal. No pricing terms were disclosed.
