Blue Apron competitor HelloFresh prices IPO, raising up to $369 million

HelloFresh, the Berlin-based cooking kit delivery company, priced its IPO at the middle of its expected range at €10.25, or roughly $11.91.

This means that the company could raise up to €318 million in the offering, or $369 million, assuming underwriters exercise what’s called a greenshoe option. It would value the company at nearly $2 billion, or €1.7 billion, which is below the last private market valuation of €2 billion.

The timing of the IPO may come as a surprise to some, given that competitor Blue Apron recently had a lackluster public debut. The company is already trading at less than half its June IPO price, but HelloFresh must be hoping that investors of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange will be more receptive than in the U.S.

Its financials are also slightly better. HelloFresh said it had about €435 million in revenue for the first six months of this year, which works out to about $505 million. Losses were nearly €57 million for the same time frame, or roughly $66 million. Blue Apron had $483 million in revenue and $84 million in losses for the same period.

Blue Apron’s struggles are partly due to investor concerns, following Amazon’s purchase of Whole Foods. It’s also because of challenges with customer retention.

Blue Apron and HelloFresh are part of a sea of competition in the cooking kit delivery category. A similar business, Plated, recently sold to Albertsons.

The business has received backing from Rocket Internet, a German company. Other investors include Insight Venture Partners and Baillie Gifford.

Featured Image: HelloFresh.com