Charlotte-based fast-food chain Bojangles’ on Monday said it has filed paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public stock offering.
The amount of shares to be offered and the price range have not yet been determined, the company said. The stock would be listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “BOJA.”
Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Jefferies are among the banks leading the IPO. The offering is expected to consist of common stock to be sold by certain Bojangles’ stockholders.
Bojangles, which is known for its chicken and biscuits, operates 622 restaurants, split between franchised and corporate locations. The company’s restaurant count has increased by 16 percent since 2012, when it operated 538 locations.
Bojangles’ was founded in Charlotte in 1977 and has passed through a number of different ownership groups. Boston-based private equity firm Advent International bought a controlling stake in Bojangles’ in 2011 from Falfurrias Capital Partners, the Charlotte-based private-equity firm co-founded by former Bank of America CEO Hugh McColl Jr. and the bank’s former chief financial officer Marc Oken.
A source told the Observer in 2011 that Falfurrias sold the chain for around $400 million. The Wall Street Journal reported in November that Bojangles’ had hired investment banks to pursue an IPO that could value the company at nearly $1 billion, citing people familiar with the matter.
The company’s restaurants generated over $1 billion in sales in 2014, with much of that going to the 368 franchised restaurants. As a company, Bojangles’ generated $431 million in revenue and $26.1 million worth of profit last year.