Wingstop files for $86M IPOWingstop files for $86M IPO

Wingstop Inc. filed a long-awaited initial public offering Wednesday that could raise $86 million or more.

Dallas-based Wingstop, which has 712 restaurants and is principally owned by Atlanta-based Roark Capital Partners, is the fourth restaurant company to make or file for a public offering this year.

On Jan. 30, New York City-based Shake Shack Inc. made its public debut, rising in one day to a valuation of nearly $1.8 billion.

In April, Charlotte, N.C.-based Bojangles Inc. set terms for a possible $123 million IPO, and Dallas-based Fogo de Chao Inc. filed for a potential $75 million offering.

Wingstop said in its Securities and Exchange Commission filing that average volumes at domestic units in 2014 were near $1.1 million. Average restaurants are about 1,700 square feet and have a domestic carryout mix of about 75 percent.

For fiscal 2014, Wingstop said its revenue increased 14.3 percent, to $67.4 million, from the prior year, and net income increased 19.3 percent, to $9 million.

Wingstop said its domestic restaurant count has increased 37.5 percent since the end of 2011, “with the pace of restaurant openings increasing each year.”

The company said average initial investment, excluding real estate and pre-opening expenses, is about $370,000 per unit.

“Our restaurants do not generally experience a ‘honeymoon’ period of higher sales upon opening, but instead typically build year over year,” the company said in the filing. About 97 percent of Wingstop’s restaurants are franchised, and average transaction size in 2014 was $15.61. The company owns 19 restaurants.

The company said average initial investment, excluding real estate and pre-opening expenses, is about $370,000 per unit.

Morgan Stanley, Jefferies and Baird are among the underwriters for the IPO. The company intends to list its common stock on the Nasdaq market under the symbol "WING".

Wingstop ranked No. 3 in the most recent Nation’s Restaurant News top 10 growth chains, with $540.2 million in U.S. systemwide sales, an increase of 19.8 percent from 2012. In 2013, Wingstop opened 74 new restaurants. Estimated sales per domestic unit in the NRN census were $962,000, rising 9.1 percent from 2012.

Wingstop was founded in 1994 and purchased by Roark Capital in 2010.

The chain has units in 36 states. The company began franchising abroad in 2009, and now has 41 units now open Indonesia, Mexico, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates.

Contact Ron Ruggless at [email protected].
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