First Watch Restaurant Group Raises $195.8M During Initial Public Stock Offering

BRADENTON, FL — First Watch Restaurant Group raised about $195.8 million during its initial public stock offering, which kicked off Oct. 1 and closed Tuesday.

In a news release, the Bradenton-based chain, which trades on the Nasdaq Global Select Mark under the symbol FWRG, said it sold 10,877,850 shares of its common stock during this time.

This includes the exercise by the underwriters of their option to purchase an additional 1,418,850 shares of common stock at the IPO price of $18 per share, the chain said.

As of 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, the stock was selling for $22.44 per share.

The company said it plans to use the proceeds from the offering to repay outstanding debt from its credit facilities.

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During a six-year period ending Dec. 29, 2019, the company saw a 6.3 percent average same-restaurant sales growth, according to its S-1 form.

Because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, First Watch's total restaurant sales declined 21.4 percent from $429.3 million in 2019 to $337.4 million in 2020.

First Watch has led its operation out of Manatee and Sarasota counties since the organization moved from California to Florida in 1986, opening its first Sunshine State restaurant in south Sarasota on South Tamiami Trail, the company said. This location still serves the local community seven days a week.

The company then opened its second local restaurant later that year in downtown Sarasota, which was also home to the original corporate office — a 250-square-foot back room with two desks that has since been transformed into a space for private meetings and food photoshoots.

Today, First Watch operates nine restaurants in Sarasota and Manatee counties. There are 423 total restaurants in 28 states, and the restaurant concept is majority owned by Advent International, one of the world's largest private-equity firms.

The company moved into its newly constructed 39,000-square-foot corporate headquarters just off Cooper Creek Boulevard in Bradenton in July.