The owner of Pret a Manger is reportedly exploring a listing on the New York stock exchange, as it eyes up expansion in the $41bn (£32bn) a year US coffee shop market.
Bridgepoint, the UK-based private equity firm, is thought to be considering a flotation with JP Morgan and Jefferies as lead advisers. Barclays, Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley and Piper Jaffray are also advising on the plans.
Pret is headquartered in London where it was founded in 1986, and 329 of its 444 outlets are in the UK. Pret opened 50 shops last year, including 31 in the UK and nine in the US, taking its total to 74 in its second biggest market.
The company has revealed attempts to woo more British workers as it prepares for potential staff shortages after Brexit and seeks to expand in the US and internationally.
Listing in New York rather than London would allow Pret to raise its profile in one of its key growth markets.
The US coffee shop market, where leading brands include Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts, was worth $41bn last year, according to a survey by the Allegra World Coffee Portal, and is forecast to reach $85bn by 2025. By contrast, UK coffee shop sales were £3.1bn in 2016 and are forecast to hit £3.7bn by 2020, according to Mintel.
Bridgepoint bought Pret in 2008 and is expected to retain a stake if the initial public offering goes ahead.
Pret was founded by the entrepreneur Julian Metcalfe and his friend Sinclair Beecham, who retain a small stake. Metcalfe went on to create the Itsu restaurant chain and Metcalfe’s Skinny popcorn.
“As a committed shareholder in Pret we are always exploring appropriate opportunities to ensure the future growth of the company,” a spokesperson for the company said. “If such opportunities materialise, we will update the market.”
Its chief executive, Clive Schlee, described New York as a “wonderful Pret market”, adding the company could easily have as many stores there as it has in London.
In the UK, about 65% of its workforce is drawn from EU countries other than Britain. The company has traditionally relied on its website to fill vacancies, with applicants directed to a recruitment centre in London, but it has started advertising roles in job centres and on social media to try to attract British workers.
Last month Andrea Wareham, Pret’s director of human resources, told MPs the chain would struggle to hire workers in sufficient numbers if it could no longer easily recruit from within the EU after Brexit.
It came under fire this year when the Guardian revealed it was offering 500 British teenagers a week of unpaid work experience. The 16- to 18-year-olds were only being offered free food. However, the company relented after a backlash on social media and Schlee said the company would pay them all Pret’s hourly starting rate.
Pret prides itself on the freshness of its food and its ability to spot the latest trends, such as avocado, quinoa and chakalaka beans.
The group posted a record set of results in 2016, with global sales rising 15% to £776m and like-for-like sales up 4.8%.It also has 19 shops in France, 19 in Hong Kong, two in China and one in Dubai.
