GOLDEN Colo. New World Restaurant Group Inc., parent to the Einstein Bros. Bagels, Noah's New York Bagels and Manhattan Bagel chains, filed a registration statement with federal regulators on Tuesday for a $125 million initial public offering of stock under the name Einstein Noah Restaurant Group Inc.
Prior to this pending offering, New World's stock has been quoted in the Pink Sheets. The newly named company plans to trade on the Nasdaq exchange under the symbol BAGL. Terms of the IPO, including the number of shares offered or an anticipated offering price, were not disclosed.
New World, which operates or franchises about 600 restaurants under its three chains, said it planned to use net proceeds from the offering to repay debt, including a $25 million note held by the company's largest shareholder Greenlight Capital LLC.
Greenlight and its affiliates own about 94 percent of the company's outstanding common stock as of March 27. The New York-based investment firm is not selling any of its shares in the proposed public offering.
Morgan Stanley and Cowen and Co. will be the lead underwriters for the offering, according to the SEC filing.
In 2007, New World said it plans to open between 11 and 15 new corporate restaurants and to open between 35 and 50 new licensed restaurants. For fiscal 2006 ended Jan. 2, New World narrowed its net loss to $6.9 million, or 66 cents per share, from a year-earlier loss of $14 million, or $1.42 per share. Fiscal 2006 revenues rose 0.2 percent to $390 million.
