A company going public and making a big opening day splash on Wall Street isnโt exactly rare. But when itโs an IPO for a coffee company, thatโs a new one for me. And when that IPO makes the owner of the company a certified billionaireโwith a Bโwell, thatโs stratospheric. And thatโs exactly what happened today with the coffee chain Dutch Bros making its public debut, making owner Travis Boersma a person of many commas.
We reported last month that the Grants Pass, Oregon-based coffee company with nearly 500 locations across 11 states was going to go public some time in the near future. That time, it turns out, was yesterday, September 15th, and the results were staggering. As reported by Yahoo Finance, Dutch Bros, or BROS as they are known on the New York Stock Exchange, opened the day selling at $23 a share. With the IPO, the brand was hoping to reach a valuation of $3 billion. They did that and then some.
By noon, the companyโs price had already risen 48% to $34.01, which at the time gave the company a valuation of $5.6 billion. Boersma, the largest shareholder and former dairy farmer, saw his own value grow to $2.3 billion. (Quick math shows that he owns around 41% of the company.)
That was at noon. The price peak just under $40 a share before coming back down to earth a touch. When the day closed, the price on Dutch Bros over 21 million shares of class A common stock landed at $36.68, nearly a 60% increase over the opening price. This places the companies valuation somewhere in the ballpark of $6.04 billion, adding around an extra $150 million to Boersmaโs billions.
Even with the influx of cash, Dutch Bros President and CEO Joth Ricci states that the company will continue the steady growth trajectory it set for itself, which includes adding more locations across the US. Ricci also states that Dutch Bros will be sticking with what works for themโdrive-thru coffeeโas opposed to adding “new categories like food” to their menu.
We had previously joked that with the IPO, Dutch Bros would be able to afford to hire both Macklemore AND Ryan Lewis. But after day one, they might be able to buy them outright, so who’s laughing now?
Zac Cadwaladerย is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas.ย Read more Zac Cadwaladerย on Sprudge.
