News agency Reuters is reporting that US alt-meat giant Impossible Foods Inc is preparing for a public listing.
The agency says that the valuation of the US plant-based burger maker is around $10 billion or more, substantially more than the $4 billion the company was worth in a private funding round in 2020.
It will follow rival alt meat provider Beyond Meat which went public in 2019 and oat milk innovator Oatly which is expected to go public shortly.
The company is said to be considering going public using a vehicle called a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). A SPAC is a shell company set up by investors with the sole purpose of raising money through an IPO to eventually acquire another company. They have become common in US finance circles in recent years. For the company being acquired, the merger is an alternative way to go public over an IPO. Merging with a SPAC has emerged as a popular IPO alternative for companies seeking to go public with less regulatory scrutiny. Its champions claim it also delivers more certainty over the valuation that will be attained and funds that will be raised.
The company has so far raised $1.5 billion in the private market.
If it does go public, and no one from the company has commented on this yet, it seems to have picked a good time to do it. According to a report by the Good Food Institute and the Plant-Based Foods Association (PBFA) plant-based retail sales in the US hit $7 billion, up 27% year on year. Meanwhile, after a few initial wobbles shares of rival Beyond Meat Inc are trading more than 400% above its IPO price from 2019.
