Like hungry urbanites queuing for cheese fries, investors are about to line up for shares in burger chain Shake Shack.
The fast food retailer, famed for its milkshakes, filed to go public yesterday. With the potential to raise up to $100m by selling an unspecified number of shares, Danny Meyer‘s global burger dream will list next year, having appointed JP Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs to lead the offering.
Shake Shack, now a subsidiary of Union Square Hospitality Group, grew from nothing more than a New York based hot dog stand back in 2000. Unprecedented demand saw the menu expand, serving up hamburgers, fries and those namesake milkshakes.
The filing refers to consumers desire for “the quintessential American meal”, citing that burger sales are double those of pizzas, at more than $72bn in the US in 2013 and over $135bn globally.
Shake Shack has done well to take advantage of a transitional shift whereby consumers are leaning more towards higher-quality ingredients in recent years. The retailer uses a “proprietary whole-muscle blend of all-natural, hormone and antibiotic-free beef” to build its patties.
Shake Shack has been profitable for the past two fiscal years states the filing, reporting net income of $4.1m in 2012 and $5.4m in 2013.
It is understood that the company plans to spend the IPO money on adding to its outlet count of 63 (in locations from London and Istanbul, to Moscow and Dubai), revamp some its older locations and pay off some debts. The chain will list its common stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “SHAK”.
