Potato chip maker Utz Brands went public Monday after 99 years in business.
"This was a great time to go public," CEO Dylan Lissette told Cheddar. "We've been around for almost a hundred years. It's a fourth generation business that was transferring into the fifth generation. We were approaching about a billion dollars in sales."
Utz has spent the last decade building a national presence through targeted acquisitions of popular regional brands such as Zapp's kettle chips, Boulder Canyon kettle chips, and Golden Flake chips.
The Pennsylvania-based company is now the fourth-largest salty snack brand behind PepsiCo, Campbell, and Kellogg.
But Utz fueled its acquisition spree with millions in debt, which partially explains its route to the public market.
Rather than an initial public offering, special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Collier Creek Holdings merged with Utz, contributing $488 million in cash in the process.
About half of that amount will go toward paying down debts.
"Irregardless if we came public through a SPAC or through a traditional IPO, we're a public company today under UTZ on the New York Stock Exchange," Lissette said. "Investors that have clamored to want to be a part of Utz for decades now can buy into the stock and be a part of our future."
The CEO also said sales "went through the roof" back in March at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, with top brands such as Zapps and Utz potato chips jumping 15 to 20 percent.
Now he's banking on Utz continuing to grow with the always-popular snack category.
"The snacking category is a great category," he said. "It grows 3-4 percent a year. It's done that through recession. It's done that through boom times. It's really just a simple pleasure."
Bambu Ventures's Kyle Pretsch dives into Lemonaid’s $10M buyout, down from 23andMe’s $400M price tag, and what’s next after Chrome Co.’s dramatic pivot.
Former Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers learned all about technology’s volatile highs and lows as a veteran of the internet’s early boom days during the late 1990s and the ensuing meltdown that followed the mania. And now he is seeing potential signs of the cycle repeating with another transformative technology in artificial intelligence. Chambers is trying take some of the lessons he learned while riding a wave that turned Cisco into the world's most valuable company in 2000 before a crash hammered its stock price and apply them as an investor in AI startups. He recently discussed AI's promise and perils during an interview with The Associated Press.
Grove Collaborative’s CEO shares how the company is reinventing everyday goods with sustainability at the core and working toward a plastic-free future.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens shares plans for affordable housing, community-led growth, and why private and public grocery stores could be key to food equity.
Tesla reported a surprise increase in sales in the third quarter as the electric car maker likely benefited from a rush by consumers to take advantage of a $7,500 credit before it expired on Sept. 30. The company reported Thursday that sales in the three months through September rose 7% compared to the same period a year ago. The gain follows two quarters of steep declines as people turned off by CEO Elon Musk’s foray into right-wing politics avoided buying his company’s cars and even protested at some dealerships. Sales rose to 497,099 vehicles, compared with 462,890 in the same period last year.
Tom’s Guide Editor-in-Chief Mark Spoonauer breaks down Apple & Amazon's latest product drops—what's hot, what's hype, and what really matters for users.
