Cosí Inc. has filed for a secondary offering of stock to its shareholders, the company said Thursday. The fast-casual restaurant company plans to use the expected proceeds of approximately $15 million from the sale toward growing the chain.
"After considering several funding alternatives, the board of directors and senior management decided it was in the best interest of the company and its shareholders to proceed with a rights offering at this time," said Stephen Edwards, Cosí executive chairman. "We believe completion of the rights offering will position the company to achieve its full potential."
Cosí intends to make the rights offering through the distribution of non-transferable rights to purchase shares of its common stock at a to-be-determined subscription price, subject to an aggregate ownership limit of 19.9 percent of company common stock.
The company has made a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission that has not yet become effective.
Cosí experienced some top-level changes earlier this year with the recent appointment of Carin Stutz as chief executive and the hiring of activist investor Brad Blum as a consultant. Blum had attempted to gain the chief executive role himself while the company searched for a new leader. He now advises Cosí on branding, product development, merchandising and marketing.
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Deerfield, Ill.-based Cosí has 80 company-owned restaurants and 56 franchised units across 17 states, the District of Columbia and the United Arab Emirates.
Contact Marcella Veneziale at [email protected].