The Chef's Warehouse (CHEF 0.75%) is cooking up a capital increase. The company announced it is issuing 4.5 million shares of common stock in an underwritten public flotation priced at $21 per share. Of these shares, 700,000 are being sold by key stockholder and the firm's vice chairman John Pappas. Additionally, the offering's underwriters have been granted a 30-day purchase option for up to an additional 675,000 shares from what the firm termed "certain selling stockholders."
The Chef's Warehouse said it plans to use its estimated $75.1 million in net proceeds from the issue to retire debt, and for "general corporate purposes, which may include acquisitions of complementary businesses."
Leucadia's Jefferies, JPMorgan Chase unit J.P. Morgan, and Bank of Montreal's BMO Capital Markets are the joint book-running managers of the offering, which is expected to close on September 25.
At the moment, The Chef's Warehouse has just over 21 million shares outstanding, and its stock trades at $21.80 per share.