After reaching out to several investment banks back in October, Beyond Meat has now filed for an initial public offering. 
Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Credit Suisse are the lead underwriters, along with the co-managers BofA Merrill Lynch, Jefferies and William Blair. The El Segundo based company is looking for a $100 million initial public offering, after filing documents last week. Beyond Meat is looking to list its common stock on the Nasdaq under the symbol ‘BYND.’
The company’s signature product is the Beyond Burger, a plant-based patty that is designed to have the same taste and texture as a real ground beef burger. Beyond Meat has products in more than 32,000 grocery stores, restaurants and other outlets across the U.S., touting nearly quadrupled sales from 2015 through 2017. While the company shows impressive sales growth, Beyond Meat’s profitability remains a concern as 2016 and 2017 showed net losses amidst heavy investment in further research and development.
Another concern for the company, as well as similar alternative-meat producers, is what the products will be allowed to market themselves as in the future. The U.S. Department of Food and Agriculture (USDA) recently came to an agreement with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding which agency will have regulatory responsibilities. The USDA will ultimately oversee the production and labeling of alternative-meat products, with many beef producers pushing for a more hardline definition of the word ‘meat’ when it comes to labels and marketing.
Beyond Meat Files for Initial Public Offering
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