Shake Shack plans to raise up to $80M from IPO

NEW YORK — Burger chain Shake Shack, which got its start as a hot dog cart in New York City, plans to raise up to $80 million from an initial public offering of its common stock.

The company said Tuesday that it anticipates its IPO of 5 million shares pricing between $14 and $16 per share.

Last month Shake Shack Inc. disclosed in a regulatory filing that it was hoping to raise up to $100 million from its IPO, but it didn’t say how many shares it planned to offer or at what price, so the figure was subject to change.

Shake Shack said that it plans to give the underwriters the option to buy up to 750,000 additional shares of its stock.

The origins of the restaurant date to 2001, when privately held Union Square Hospitality Group, a company owned by restaurateur Danny Meyer, opened a hot dog cart in Manhattan’s Madison Square Park. Three years later a more permanent kiosk opened in the same park. It now has 63 locations in nine countries, according to a Tuesday regulatory filing.

Shake Shack said that after the offering it will be a separate company from Union Square Hospitality Group.

In 2013, Shake Shack had revenue of $84.5 million, up 45 percent from the year before. It posted a profit of $5.4 million in 2013, up 31 percent from 2012.

Shake Shack cooks its burgers to order and promotes its use of natural ingredients, including hormone- and antibiotic-free beef. It’s known for its long lines and its vibrating pagers that signal when an order is ready. The chain calls its restaurants “shacks,” and uses the word to describe its menu items. The ShackBurger, for example, is topped with ShackSauce and a hot dog is named the Shack-cago Dog.

Other fast-casual restaurant operators have fared well after their IPOs, including chicken chain El Pollo Loco Holdings Inc. and Mediterranean-style restaurant chain Zoe’s Kitchen Inc.

Shake Shack expects to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the “SHAK” ticker symbol.