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The Fresh Market nixes IPO

Plans to go public dropped two months after acquisition by Cencosud

Russell Redman

July 15, 2022

2 Min Read
The Fresh Market-Greensboro NC store upgrade-2021.png
The Fresh Market’s preliminary IPO filing in early 2021 came nearly five years to the day after the specialty grocer had unveiled plans to go private.The Fresh Market

Specialty grocer The Fresh Market is canceling its initial public offering a year after submitting its IPO filing.

The Fresh Market Holdings Inc. on Wednesday requested that the Securities and Exchange Commission withdraw its registration statements and amendments for an IPO. In the July 13 SEC filing, the Greensboro, N.C.-based retailer also indicated the request effectively scraps its IPO effort.

“The company submits this request for withdrawal as it does not intend to pursue the contemplated public offering of the securities covered by the registration statement at this time,” The Fresh Market stated in the filing. “The company confirms that the registration statement has not been declared effective, no securities have been or will be issued or sold pursuant to the registration statement, and no preliminary prospectus contained in the registration statement has been distributed.”

The Fresh Market submitted an S-1 registration statement for an IPO on July 16, 2021, following a draft IPO registration statement filed on March 12, 2021, as well as several amended filings. Before the withdrawal request, most recent action on the IPO had been a March 11, 2022, filing of a preliminary prospectus. Plans called for The Fresh Market’s common stock to list on the Nasdaq Global Select Market exchange under the symbol TFM.

Related:The Fresh Market to mark 40th anniversary

The IPO withdrawal, first reported by Reuters, comes two months after Cencosud, a leading retail group based in Chile, said it had purchased 67% of The Fresh Market in a $676 million deal with Apollo Global Management, whose affiliates manage the grocery chain’s controlling fund. Overall, The Fresh Market operates 160 stores in 22 states, with the majority in Florida. The retailer generated revenue of $1.93 billion in 2021.

The Fresh Market’s preliminary IPO filing was made nearly five years to the day after the retailer had unveiled plans to go private.

New York-based Apollo and The Fresh Market announced on March 14, 2016, that the retailer agreed to be acquired by an affiliate of the private equity firm in a deal valued at about $1.36 billion. The Fresh Market founder and chairman Ray Berry and his son Brett Berry, who together owned 9.8% of the chain’s outstanding shares, agreed to roll over the vast majority of their holdings in the transaction with Apollo. At the time, The Fresh Market operated 186 stores in 27 states, and the deal was completed in April 2016. 

Founded in 1982, The Fresh Market had gone public via a $290 million IPO in November 2010, when the company had 100 stores in 20 states.

Related:Chilean retail group acquires majority stake in The Fresh Market

About the Author

Russell Redman

Senior Editor
Supermarket News

Russell Redman has served as senior editor at Supermarket News since April 2018, his second tour with the publication. In his current role, he handles daily news coverage for the SN website and contributes news and features for the print magazine, as well as participates in special projects, podcasts and webinars and attends industry events. Russ joined SN from Racher Press Inc.’s Chain Drug Review and Mass Market Retailers magazines, where he served as desk/online editor for more than nine years, covering the food/drug/mass retail sector. 

Russell Redman’s more than 30 years of experience in journalism span a range of editorial manager, editor, reporter/writer and digital roles at a variety of publications and websites covering a breadth of industries, including retailing, pharmacy/health care, IT, digital home, financial technology, financial services, real estate/commercial property, pro audio/video and film. He started his career in 1989 as a local news reporter and editor, covering community news and politics in Long Island, N.Y. His background also includes an earlier stint at Supermarket News as center store editor and then financial editor in the mid-1990s. Russ holds a B.A. in journalism (minor in political science) from Hofstra University, where he also earned a certificate in digital/social media marketing in November 2016.

Russell Redman’s experience:

Supermarket News - Informa
Senior Editor 
April 2018 - present

Chain Drug Review/Mass Market Retailers - Racher Press
Desk/Online Editor 
Sept. 2008 - March 2018

CRN magazine - CMP Media
Managing Editor
May 2000 - June 2007

Bank Systems & Technology - Miller Freeman
Executive Editor/Managing Editor
Dec. 1996 - May 2000

Supermarket News - Fairchild Publications
Financial Editor/Associate Editor
April 1995 - Dec. 1996 

Shopping Centers Today Magazine - ICSC 
Desk Editor/Assistant Editor
Dec. 1992 - April 1995

Testa Communications
Assistant Editor/Contributing Editor (Music & Sound Retailer, Post, Producer, Sound & Communications and DJ Times magazines)
Jan. 1991 - Dec. 1992 

American Banker/Bond Buyer
Copy Editor
Oct. 1990 - Jan. 1991 

This Week newspaper - Chanry Communications
Reporter/Editor
May 1989 - July 1990

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