USA: Peet’s Coffee & Tea Files for Initial Public Offering
Peet's Coffee & Tea (Nasdaq:PEET), a specialty coffee roaster and marketer, today announced that it has filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for an initial public offering of 3,300,000 shares of its common stock with an estimated price range of $10.00 to $14.00 per share. Of the total offering, 2,500,000 shares are being offered by the Company and 800,000 shares are being offered by certain shareholders. In addition, the Company and the selling shareholders have granted the underwriters an option to purchase an additional 495,000 shares to cover over-allotments, if any. The managing underwriters of the offering are WR Hambrecht + Co and Pacific Growth Equities, Inc. The method of distribution of the shares will be through WR Hambrecht + Co's proprietary OpenIPO system. Founded in Berkeley, Calif. in 1966, Peet's Coffee & Tea is a specialty coffee roaster and marketer focused on selling fresh whole bean coffees through multiple channels of distribution, including specialty grocery and gourmet food stores, online and mail order, offices and restaurant accounts and 57 company-owned stores in four states. The OpenIPO process is similar to a traditional underwriting except that the pricing and allocation of the shares will be based on the results of a modified Dutch auction. All qualified investors place a bid for the number of shares they want to own and the price they want to pay. To participate in the offering, an investor must meet SEC qualifications and have an account with WR Hambrecht + Co, or a participating broker in the OpenIPO Network. Information regarding the OpenIPO process may be obtained through
October 16, 2000