CAVA Group, a fast-casual Mediterranean restaurant chain with 263 locations across the US, filed on Friday with the SEC to raise up to $100 million in an initial public offering.
CAVA believes it has established itself as the only national player at scale in the fast-growing Mediterranean category, with more than twice the number of restaurants compared to its next largest competitor in the category. The company owned and operated 263 CAVA restaurants across 22 states and Washington, DC as of April 16, 2023, including the conversion of 145 Zoes Kitchen locations (2018 acquisition). It anticipates having 34 to 44 net new restaurant openings through the end of 2023, including 8 remaining Zoes Kitchen conversions.
CAVA joins another sizable restaurant IPO in the pipeline: Brazilian steakhouse chain Fogo Hospitality (FOGO) is on file for an estimated $200 million IPO. More detailed profiles for CAVA and Fogo are available with a free trial of IPO Pro.
The Washington, DC-based company was founded in 2006 and booked $608 million in sales for the 12 months ended March 31, 2023. It plans to list on the NYSE under the symbol CAVA. CAVA Group filed confidentially on February 6, 2023. J.P. Morgan, Jefferies, Citi, Morgan Stanley, and Piper Sandler are the joint bookrunners on the deal. No pricing terms were disclosed.
