Dutch Bros Releases More IPO Details—Date and Price, Explained

Coffee chain Dutch Bros filed confidential paperwork to go public back in June. Earlier this week, the company filed its revised S-1 form with the SEC and provided more details.

Dutch Bros, which is based in Oregon, has been in business for almost 30 years. The company isn’t the only IPO in 2021 for casual food and coffee restaurant chains. Doughnut specialist Krispy Kreme debuted on the Nasdaq in July and breakfast-and-lunch chain First Watch is preparing for an IPO later this year.

Dutch Bros was started by two brothers, Dane and Travis Boersma, in 1992. Moving on from the dairy business to running a coffee cart in downtown Oregon, the brothers eventually opened the first franchise location in 2000 and the business continued to grow.

Currently, the business operates 470 locations across 11 states, primarily in the West and Southwest. The company stopped selling franchises to anyone outside of the Dutch Bros system in 2008. Travis Boersma said that he wanted to fuel growth using only the leaders built through its existing franchise partners. He said, “That shift was a game changer for us.”

The company emphasizes philanthropy through various initiatives including its “Drink One For Dane,” “Buck for Kids,” and “Dutch Luv” programs.

The “Drink One For Dane” program started in 2007 following co-founder Dane’s diagnosis with ALS, a disease he eventually succumbed to in 2009. In May 2021, the event raised $1.9 million to be donated to the Muscular Dystrophy Association, which works in research for ALS treatments and advocacy.

With the newly revised SEC paperwork, Dutch Bros has released plenty of details for its upcoming IPO. In the Dutch Bros IPO, the company intends to price shares between $18 and $20 apiece. According to Restaurant Business Online, the company will offer just over 21 million shares in its IPO.

At the midpoint of its target price range, the IPO would raise $400 million and give the chain a $3.1 billion valuation.

September 15 is the planned Dutch Bros IPO date, and it looks to be the largest Oregon-based IPO in history. In paperwork related to the IPO filing, Dutch Bros said it hopes to scale up to 4,000 shop locations eventually.

The new stock symbol for the company as it trades on the NYSE will be "BROS." The IPO is anticipated to raise up to $484 million, with $200 million of that to help pay down debt and the remaining funds to help with business growth plans.

Following the IPO, co-founder and chief executive Travis Boersma will retain almost 75 percent of the voting power for the chain’s common stock. Dutch Bros’ partner TSG Consumer Partners is a private equity firm that will have approximately 22 percent of the voting power. TSG first invested in the company in 2018.

Nation’s Restaurant News reported that the company saw revenue increases of 61.3 percent in 2020 despite challenges amid the COVID-19 pandemic. However, expenses were higher as well, which dropped the net income by nearly 80 percent.