Celebrity
Chef Bobby Flay plans to offer Wall Street shares of his burger
business up to the public. The move, announced July 17, 2017, is
intended to give Flay a financial boost as those buying in drive up
the stock of his fast-casual Bobby’s Burger Palace chain in hopes
of an international expansion. According to CNBC, there are just 17
locations of the chain that competes with Shake Shack, Five Guys and
Smashburger. Todd
Katz, formerly Chief Financial Officer of Quest Integrity,
says that the transformation into a publicly-traded company takes
time but will often provide the capital needed to foot the bill of
expansion – in Flay’s case, a major footprint growth. The CNBC
report adds that Flay’s restaurant chain isn’t as recognizable as
Shake Shake, which also went public on the stock market, but
investors could jump on the chance to own shares of something
associated with the Food Network star.
Todd
Katz’s time with Quest Integrity, a pipeline inspection company,
was capped in 2015 marked by the sale of the company to a
publicly-traded company. Total proceeds of the sale amounted to $77
million by the end of 2015. Starting in 2008, Todd Katz took Quest
Integrity from a start-up operation to a company boasting 285
employees and making worldwide revenue of $75 million in 2016.
Companies as profitable as this are an enticing offer for those in
the stock market. Potential investors, in exchange for their purchase
of shares, help boost the bottom line of the company that’s gone
public. According to the CNBC report, Flay hopes to bring in about
$15 million to help cover the costs of the expansion.
Todd
Katz, formerly of Quest Integrity, spent decades overseeing mergers
and acquisitions at financial institutions across the country. While
in Palo Alto and San Francisco, Katz managed a team of investment
bankers and attorneys as the team looked into acquisitions, mergers,
divestitures and spin-offs. While in Los Angeles, Katz assisted with
new business origination, including new business presentations and
complex financial modeling. As you can see, there are professionals
like Todd Katz on the other end of businesses such as Flay’s
looking out for prudent fiscal moves. While only time will tell if
Flay will see his rather small chain of burger joints spread across
the country, it’s a sure thing that investors will be keeping a
close eye on the initial public offering.
