Instacart (CART) began trading on the Nasdaq on Tue 19 Sept 23

Instacart, the grocery-delivery company that saw its business boom during the pandemic, priced its long-awaited IPO at $30 a share on Monday, , at the high end of the revised $28-30 expected range.

It will become the first notable venture-backed tech company to hit the U.S. public market since December 2021.

Instacart priced 22.0 mln share IPO at $30.00 per share

Opened for trading at $42, ended the day about 20% below its opening price of $42 (33.70 +3.70)

Ticker:  CART

The 11-year-old company, which delivers groceries from chains including Kroger, Costco and Wegmans, had to drop its stock price dramatically to make it appealing for public market investors. In early 2021, at the height of the Covid pandemic, Instacart raised money at a $39 billion valuation, or $125 a share, from prominent venture firms like Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz, along with big asset managers Fidelity and T. Rowe Price.

Instacart co-founder Apoorva Mehta owns shares worth over $800 million, and is selling a small portion of them in the IPO. Mehta has been executive chair since the company appointed ex-Facebook executive Fidji Simo as his successor as CEO in 2021. Mehta is resigning from the board in conjunction with the IPO, and Simo is assuming the role of chair.

==DevvStream Holdings and Focus Impact Acquisition Corp (FIAC) enter SPAC business combination agreement

 

• DevvStream Holdings and Focus Impact Acquisition Corp. announced that they have entered into a definitive Business Combination Agreement for a business combination. DevvStream is a leading developer and manager of technology-based carbon credits and related sustainability solutions. DevvStream seeks to partner with governments and corporations worldwide to achieve their sustainability goals through the implementation of curated green technology projects that improve energy efficiencies, and eliminate and reduce or sequester carbon emissions, through the use of carbon credits. DevvStream also helps these organizations meet their net zero goals by providing them access to high-quality carbon credits.
• Focus Impact is a special purpose acquisition corporation focused on amplifying social impact through the pursuit of a merger or business combination with socially forward companies. The Transaction is structured as an amalgamation of DevvStream into a wholly owned subsidiary of Focus Impact, following Focus Impact's redomiciling as an Alberta company.
• Focus Impact will be renamed DevvStream Corp. and continue the business of DevvStream following the amalgamation.
• It is a condition of the Transaction that the securities of the Combined Company will be listed on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, and the shares are expected to trade under the ticker symbol "DEVS".
• Pursuant to the Business Combination Agreement, Focus Impact will re-domicile in the Province of Alberta, Canada and a newly formed, wholly-owned subsidiary of Focus Impact will combine with DevvStream, such that, following the combination, DevvStream will continue as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Focus Impact, which will be renamed DevvStream Corp. The aggregate transaction consideration deliverable to the DevvStream stockholders shall be a number of newly issued shares of common stock (or shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise or conversion of other outstanding securities of DevvStream that are converted as a part of the transaction) of the Combined Company equal to US$145 million plus the aggregate exercise price of the outstanding DevvStream options and warrants, with each share of common stock of the Combined Company valued at US$10.20 per share for the purposes of the Transaction. Based on the aggregate transaction consideration, assuming full dilution and a U.S. dollar to Canadian dollar exchange rate of 1.34, this implies a deemed per share value of C$2.16 for DevvStream's subordinate voting shares.
• Focus Impact maintains a trust account in the amount of approximately US$60 million, as of June 30, 2023 (prior to any redemptions by its public shareholders). All proceeds to DevvStream from the proposed Transaction (after satisfaction of payments to redeeming Focus Impact shareholders and satisfaction of relevant fees, expenses and other liabilities) are expected to be used to by the Combined Company to execute its business plan and for general working capital purposes. The post-transaction enterprise value of DevvStream (prior to receipt of any proceeds from additional capital raising activity) implied by the transaction terms is US$212.8 million.

==Calidi Biotherapeutics (CLDI) began trading on the NYSE on Wed 13 Sep 23

• Calidi Biotherapeutics, a San Diego-based biotech company, has gone public through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). The company has secured nearly $70 million in funding to develop its allogeneic stem cell therapies through 2025. Calidi is merging with First Light Acquisition Group (FLAG).
 

The stock was dropped 46% to $4.35 in early trading on Wednesday. The shares fell as much as 50% to a low of $4 when the market opened.

Calidi's trading debut followed the completion of its merger with the blank-check company First Light Acquisition.

The business combination made about $28 million in gross proceeds available to the clinical-stage biotechnology company, consisting of $25 million in a private capital raise, cash proceeds of about $1 million from First Light's trust account and about $2 million in private investments and non-redemption agreements.

Transaction expenses and debt repayments are estimated to be about $13 million, along with a $5 million working capital adjustment for expenses incurred prior to closing. The funds should be enough to sustain operations into 2025, Calidi said.

==Birkenstock (BIRK) filed on Tuesday with the SEC for an IPO

 

Birkenstock's F-1 : " In fiscal 2022, we generated revenues of 1,242.8 million, gross profit margin of 60%, Adjusted gross profit margin of 62%, net profit of 187.1 million, Adjusted EBITDA of 434.6 million and Adjusted EBITDA margin of 35%, while selling approximately 30 million units... In the current era, we have built on our legacy while continuing to revolutionize processes and strategies to unleash our global potential, growing revenues at a 20% CAGR from fiscal 2014 to fiscal 2022."

• Key financials:
  • Revenues increasing from 727.9 million in fiscal 2020 to 1,242.8 million in fiscal 2022, a 31% two-year CAGR;
  • Number of units sold increasing at a 12% CAGR between fiscal 2020 and fiscal 2022;
  • ASP increasing at a 16% CAGR between fiscal 2020 and fiscal 2022;
  • DTC penetration increasing from 30% of revenues in fiscal 2020 to 38% of revenues in fiscal 2022;
  • Gross profit margin expanding from 55% in fiscal 2020 to 60% in fiscal 2022;
  • Adjusted EBITDA growing at a 49% two-year CAGR from 194.8 million in fiscal 2020 to 434.6 million in fiscal 2022, with Adjusted EBITDA margin expanding 8 percentage points from 27% in fiscal 2020 to 35% in fiscal 2022.

Smith Douglas Homes files for IPO

Smith Douglas Homes has filed for an initial public offering, citing strengths such as a “land-light” and conservatively leveraged business model.

The Woodstock, Ga., company had 2022 revenue of $755.4 million, up from $518.9 million in 2021.

Smith Douglas, which focuses on southeastern and southern states, typically buys finished lots through lot-option contracts from third-party land developers or land bankers. The company believes its lot acquisition strategy “reduces our operating and financial risk relative to other homebuilders that own a higher percentage of their land supply on balance sheet.”

The company plans to seek a New York Stock Exchange listing under the symbol SDHC.

Smith Douglas plans to use proceeds to buy newly issued LLC Interests from Smith Douglas Holdings LLC, which in turn plans to use the funding for purposes including repaying credit facility debt and redeeming Class C and Class D units.

Smith Douglas Homes may also use some of the proceeds to acquire or invest in businesses, products, services or technologies.