First Watch Restaurant Chain Takes Steps To Go Public

BRADENTON, FL — First Watch, a Bradenton-based breakfast and lunch restaurant chain, made its first moves to go public, filing an S-1 registration statement Tuesday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering.

The chain applied for listing the common stock on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker symbol “FWRG,” First Watch said in a news release. The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the proposed initial public offering haven’t been determined yet.

The company said it plans to use the proceeds from the offering to repay outstanding debt from its credit facilities.

During a six-year period ending Dec. 29, 2019, the company saw a 6.3 percent average same-restaurant sales growth, according to its S-1 form.

Because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, First Watch’s total restaurant sales declined 21.4 percent from $429.3 million in 2019 to $337.4 million in 2020.

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First Watch has led its operation out of Manatee and Sarasota counties since the organization moved from California to Florida in 1986, opening its first Sunshine State restaurant in south Sarasota on South Tamiami Trail, the company said. This location still serves the local community seven days a week.

The company then opened its second local restaurant later that year in downtown Sarasota, which was also home to the original corporate office — a 250-square-foot back room with two desks that has since been transformed into a space for private meetings and food photoshoots.

Today, First Watch operates nine restaurants in Sarasota and Manatee counties. There are 423 total restaurants in 28 states, and the restaurant concept is majority owned by Advent International, one of the world’s largest private-equity firms.

The company moved into its newly constructed 39,000-square-foot corporate headquarters just off Cooper Creek Boulevard in Bradenton in July.