DC-based restaurant chain Cava sets terms for IPO

Cava, a Washington, D.C.-based Mediterranean fast casual restaurant, is set to pitch to investors for an IPO that could value the restaurant chain at more than $2 billion. 

According to a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing, Cava Group said it will offer 14.44 million shares between $17 and $19 apiece. 

The company also said in its filing that it plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol CAVA.

Cava has raised venture capital funding from firms such as Capital International Investors, Capital Research Global Investors, and T. Rowe Price Investment Management, Inc.

Cava generated $564.1 million of total revenue in 2022, a 12.8 percent increase from the previous year. The company experienced a net loss of 59.4 million in 2022, according to filings with the SEC. 

Cava, which opened its first restaurant in 2011, has expanded to 263 locations in 22 U.S. states. The restaurant chain also acquired rival Zoe’s Kitchen in 2018, converting those restaurants into Cava locations to help with its expansion process, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The restaurant chain said in its filing that it hopes to have more than 1,000 locations in the U.S. by 2032. 

Last year was the slowest for new IPO offerings in the U.S. in at least two decades, and 2023 is already turning out to be a bad year in terms of money raised in traditional IPOs. 

Investors recently have been more interested in cash flow and profits than in growth, as well-known companies such as Intel’s Mobileye and Johnson & Johnson’s Kenvue have had the most successful IPOs, the Journal reported.