Chobani Files for IPO
Yogurt and beverage producer Chobani announced today that it has filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a potential Initial Public Offering (IPO).
The company did not detail a proposed valuation, a potential stock price or a timeline for an IPO. The valuation could be in excess of $10 billion, according to a Reuters report.
“As we create the food company of the future, we’ll look at all options carefully to fuel our ambitious plans, especially with oatmilk and plant-based products,” Hamdi Ulukaya, Chobani founder, previously said in a statement about the potential for an IPO. “An IPO is definitely one exciting direction but whether or not we’re public, we’ll keep disrupting and making things better.”
Since launching its Greek yogurts in 2007, Chobani has been in large part responsible for the yogurt category’s transition from an emphasis on low-fat to higher protein, and introducing Americans to a thicker, tangier alternative to traditional strained yogurt.
In the following years, the New York City-based brand has expanded its production footprint to factories in Idaho, New York and Australia. That manufacturing power has helped fuel product innovation that has taken Chobani to new areas within the refrigerated dairy and alt-dairy case, including coffee creamers, cold brew, plant-based yogurt and the multi-product Complete line. ,
The company had received a $750 million investment from TPG Capital in 2014, offering the company financial stability at a time when the yogurt producer was reportedly feeling a cash crunch due to the development of its Idaho plant. A press release by TPG at the time of the investment noted that Chobani’s 2013 revenues exceeded $1 billion. The deal, which included a loan, included warrants to purchase a minority stake in the brand down the road.
In 2016 Ulukaya announced that he would give up a significant portion of his shares, granting all employees equity that, combined, could be worth up to 10% of the company if it was ever sold or went public. At the time, The New York Times reported that the gift would further dilute TPG’s ownership stake at a time when Ulukaya and TPG were at odds.
TPG exited the business in 2018 as part of a deal that saw Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP), the investment arm of one of Canada’s largest defined benefit pension plans, acquire a minority stake in the brand. The deal was also structured so that over time Chobani, and Ulukaya, could acquire back another 10% of equity which, if exercised, would bring the total equity controlled by the company to “as much as 90%,” Chobani said.
Ulukaya has long expressed his desire to keep the company largely privately owned, having rejected an offer by PepsiCo in 2016 to acquire a stake in the brand. Still, the two conglomerates went on to establish a distribution partnership in 2021, with PepsiCo testing distributing Chobani’s Complete line and other items to convenience stores and universities in the Northeast. The partnership allows Chobani the potential to increase market share and, by utilizing PepsiCo’s existing chilled distribution network, service more outlets without having to dedicate its own resources to the channels.
If the IPO occurs, it would follow a spate of food and beverage brands that have looked to the public markets for capital. Following the IPOs of plant-based meat brand Beyond Meat in 2019 and pasture raised egg producer Vital Farms in August 2020, in January biltong producer Stryve announced it would go public via a SPAC. CPG focused groups Siddhi Capital, HumanCo Acquisition Corp and AF Ventures also have announced SPACs in the past year, but have yet to identify targets. Most recently, Chobani competitor Oatly — which also offers non-dairy creamers and yogurts — announced its own IPO in May, raising $1.4 billion.
