Online meal-kit company Blue Apron Holdings is set to raise about $500 million through an initial public offering, according to its S-1 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The firm is planning to offer 30 million shares of class A common stock on the New York Stock Exchange at between $15 and $17 per share. At the midpoint of the price range, Blue Apron would have a fully diluted market value of $3.1 billion. Earlier this month the company said it wanted to raise $100 million, according to a report from USA Today. Blue Apron supplies seasonal ingredients and original recipes for customers to cook at home.
The New York-based company said it would use the proceeds of the IPO to fuel expansion. Blue Apron spent $144.1 million in marketing in 2016, on television, digital, and social media ads, as well as radio and podcast ads. It said it will probably increase marketing expenditures.
The company reported revenue of $795.4 million in 2016 but posted a $54.9 million loss, steeper even than its losses of $47 million in 2015 and $30.8 million in 2014. Through the end of March 2017 it has delivered about 25 million paid orders, or 159 million meals.
“We have a history of losses, and we may be unable to achieve or sustain profitability,” the company said in its SEC filing.
Founder and CEO Matthew Salzberg will own just under 30% of the company’s voting stock after the IPO.
The announcement comes within days of news that Amazon would be buying Whole Foods Market for $13.7 billion, a deal that is expected to have wide repercussions across the food-supply and retail business. Whole Foods also sells meal-kits, and Amazon is considered the dominant player in delivery and pickup logistics.
The Blue Apron offering is expected to price next week. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Citi, and Barclays are joint bookrunners.
Blue Apron’s main rival, Sun Basket, has also hired banks for an IPO, Reuters reported in March. Sun Basket focuses on organic ingredients.
