什么新风口？一大波烧烤公司要上市
在过去的一年里，高跟鞋和行李箱不一定很畅销，但烧烤市场却异常火爆。
随着烧烤师傅和新手带着大量生肉蜂拥至后院、门廊和露台，烧烤设备和炊具的市场需求持续高涨。对一些人来说，全新的火热炉灶已经变成了一片绿洲，一种逃避其他重要事物的方式，或者是一种逃避家庭办公室的方式。
随着新冠疫苗在全美国范围内的推广，在美国独立日这天，许多家庭蜂拥到烧烤架前，尴尬地重新开始对话。
当世界各地的大量企业都在尽力保住生意时，一些烧烤架制造商却认为，这是一个从那些对新的蘸酱配方啧啧称奇，或正在考虑下一次购买哪种夹钳的顾客身上赚钱的好时机。在7月的前两周，两家烧烤公司——Weber和Traeger申请了首次公开募股（IPO）。据报道，由曼宁（Manning）足球家族支持的在线烧烤零售商BBQGuys已经开始计划通过特殊目的收购公司（SPAC）上市。这三家公司可能会在今年秋季公开上市。
IPO指数公司——IPOX Schuster的创始人约瑟夫•舒斯特说：“这些公司看到了巨大的机会窗口。”
居家文化的流行是“后院经济”火热的主要原因：据户外家具行业的行业组织国际休闲家具协会（International Casual Furnishings Association）在今年1月的一项研究显示，拥有户外空间的个人中，有90%的人增加了对平台、门廊和露台的使用，近60%的人表示，他们计划为室内空间购买新用品，比如烤架、火坑以及躺椅。
从游泳池公司到庭院家具生产商，整个户外市场都沸腾了。家得宝（Home Depot）一直在努力维持其货架上的库存，以满足消费者对户外用品的新需求，其中烧烤架的表现最为亮眼。提交给监管机构的文件显示，截至2020年9月，受BDT Capital Partners公司背书的Weber在前一年中销售了价值15亿美元的产品，高于同期的13亿美元。截至2020年3月的六个月里，其收入较上年同期增长了62%。在AEA Investors和安大略教师养老金计划（Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan）的支持下，Traeger的收入在2020年年底为5.458亿美元，高于2019年的3.633亿美元。
舒斯特表示，IPO可能是这些公司为股东和员工创造流动性、建立业务意识以及带来新的现金流的好时机。
IPO研究和投资公司Renaissance Capital的高级IPO市场策略师马特•肯尼迪指出，总的来说，这不是一个糟糕的上市时机：估值一直很高，IPO表现良好，能够鼓励更多的投资者参与进来，还有数百家公司正在筹备上市。
“在这里，需求和供给结合得很紧密。”他说。
当然，还需要考虑一些来自市场的挑战：用于制造烧烤架的钢材的生产问题，导致了供应积压和价格上涨。Weber和Traeger都在IPO文件中披露，价格波动可能会威胁它们的利润率。
还有一个问题是，随着新冠疫情之后重新开放速度加快，消费者是否还会保持这种“后院快乐”，有待观察。“与疫情相关的有利因素的可持续性，将是一个巨大的问题。”肯尼迪说。而烧烤公司则认为，完全不必担心。“全球85%的烧烤公司预计，在疫情结束之后，烧烤的频率将与疫情前一样，甚至更高。”Weber在IPO文件中写道。
Weber和Traeger近年来都收购了烹饪科技公司，并一直在为自己的产品线增加新产品，比如智能温度计和可以让手机监控食物温度的应用程序。
如果这几家公司的IPO为烧烤市场带来了大量新资金，那么在未来几个月，可能会有“更多的烧烤钳”可供狂热的美国消费者选择。（财富中文网）
编译：杨二一
在过去的一年里，高跟鞋和行李箱不一定很畅销，但烧烤市场却异常火爆。
随着烧烤师傅和新手带着大量生肉蜂拥至后院、门廊和露台，烧烤设备和炊具的市场需求持续高涨。对一些人来说，全新的火热炉灶已经变成了一片绿洲，一种逃避其他重要事物的方式，或者是一种逃避家庭办公室的方式。
随着新冠疫苗在全美国范围内的推广，在美国独立日这天，许多家庭蜂拥到烧烤架前，尴尬地重新开始对话。
当世界各地的大量企业都在尽力保住生意时，一些烧烤架制造商却认为，这是一个从那些对新的蘸酱配方啧啧称奇，或正在考虑下一次购买哪种夹钳的顾客身上赚钱的好时机。在7月的前两周，两家烧烤公司——Weber和Traeger申请了首次公开募股（IPO）。据报道，由曼宁（Manning）足球家族支持的在线烧烤零售商BBQGuys已经开始计划通过特殊目的收购公司（SPAC）上市。这三家公司可能会在今年秋季公开上市。
IPO指数公司——IPOX Schuster的创始人约瑟夫•舒斯特说：“这些公司看到了巨大的机会窗口。”
居家文化的流行是“后院经济”火热的主要原因：据户外家具行业的行业组织国际休闲家具协会（International Casual Furnishings Association）在今年1月的一项研究显示，拥有户外空间的个人中，有90%的人增加了对平台、门廊和露台的使用，近60%的人表示，他们计划为室内空间购买新用品，比如烤架、火坑以及躺椅。
从游泳池公司到庭院家具生产商，整个户外市场都沸腾了。家得宝（Home Depot）一直在努力维持其货架上的库存，以满足消费者对户外用品的新需求，其中烧烤架的表现最为亮眼。提交给监管机构的文件显示，截至2020年9月，受BDT Capital Partners公司背书的Weber在前一年中销售了价值15亿美元的产品，高于同期的13亿美元。截至2020年3月的六个月里，其收入较上年同期增长了62%。在AEA Investors和安大略教师养老金计划（Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan）的支持下，Traeger的收入在2020年年底为5.458亿美元，高于2019年的3.633亿美元。
舒斯特表示，IPO可能是这些公司为股东和员工创造流动性、建立业务意识以及带来新的现金流的好时机。
IPO研究和投资公司Renaissance Capital的高级IPO市场策略师马特•肯尼迪指出，总的来说，这不是一个糟糕的上市时机：估值一直很高，IPO表现良好，能够鼓励更多的投资者参与进来，还有数百家公司正在筹备上市。
“在这里，需求和供给结合得很紧密。”他说。
当然，还需要考虑一些来自市场的挑战：用于制造烧烤架的钢材的生产问题，导致了供应积压和价格上涨。Weber和Traeger都在IPO文件中披露，价格波动可能会威胁它们的利润率。
还有一个问题是，随着新冠疫情之后重新开放速度加快，消费者是否还会保持这种“后院快乐”，有待观察。“与疫情相关的有利因素的可持续性，将是一个巨大的问题。”肯尼迪说。而烧烤公司则认为，完全不必担心。“全球85%的烧烤公司预计，在疫情结束之后，烧烤的频率将与疫情前一样，甚至更高。”Weber在IPO文件中写道。
Weber和Traeger近年来都收购了烹饪科技公司，并一直在为自己的产品线增加新产品，比如智能温度计和可以让手机监控食物温度的应用程序。
如果这几家公司的IPO为烧烤市场带来了大量新资金，那么在未来几个月，可能会有“更多的烧烤钳”可供狂热的美国消费者选择。（财富中文网）
编译：杨二一
High heels and luggage haven’t necessarily been flying off the shelves over the past year, but the barbecue grill market is smoking hot.
Demand for new barbecue equipment and cookware has been on fire as grill masters and novices flocked to backyards, porches and patios with ungodly amounts of raw meat in tow. To some, brand new fiery cooktops have become an oasis—an escape from significant others, or perhaps a refuge from a home office.
With the rollout of vaccines across the country, Independence Day sent families flocking to their grills en masse, awkwardly reengaging in conversation with people they had forgotten about amid their isolation and sudden year-long discovery of rotisserie seasoning.
While many businesses around the world were struggling to keep their doors open, some barbecue grill makers decided it was a good time to cash in on customers who were fawning over new dipping sauce recipes or pondering which tongs to buy next. In the first two weeks of July, two grill companies, Weber and Traeger, filed for initial public offerings. BBQGuys, an online grill retailer backed by the Manning football family, has reportedly started making plans for a SPAC merger. All three companies could be trading publicly by the time the weather gets cold again.
“Those companies—they see a huge window of opportunity,” says Josef Schuster, founder of IPO indices company IPOX Schuster.
Pandemic stay-at-home culture is a major contributor to people flocking to backyards: 90% of individuals with an outdoor space have been upping their usage of decks, porches and patios, and nearly 60% say they plan to buy new items (such as grills, fire pits or lounge chairs) for their space, according to a January study from the International Casual Furnishings Association, a trade organization for the outdoor furniture industry.
The entire outdoor market has been sizzling—from pool companies to patio furniture producers. Home Depot has struggled to keep its shelves stocked with its newfound demand for outdoor goods. Grills, in particular, are having their moment in the limelight. Weber, backed by BDT Capital Partners, sold $1.5 billion worth of products in the year ending in September 2020, up from $1.3 billion the year prior, according to regulatory filings, and its revenue is up 62% in the six months ending in March 2020 from the year prior. Revenue at Traeger, backed by AEA Investors and the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, was $545.8 million at the end of 2020, up from $363.3 million in 2019.
An IPO could be an opportune moment for these companies to create liquidity for shareholders and employees, build awareness of their business or bring in fresh cash, according to Schuster.
It’s not a bad time to go public, in general: Valuations have been high, public offerings are performing well (encouraging more investors to get in on the action), and there are hundreds of private companies in the pipeline, according to Matt Kennedy, senior IPO market strategist at IPO research and investment company Renaissance Capital.
“There's both a demand and supply side here that are coming together,” he says.
Of course, there are market challenges to consider: Production issues for steel, which is used to make grills, have led to supply backlogs as well as price hikes. Both Weber and Traeger disclose in their IPO filings that price fluctuations could harm their margins.
There’s also the question of whether consumers will remain quite so backyard-happy as the country continues to reopen. “The sustainability of the pandemic related-tailwinds is a huge question,” says Kennedy. For their part, grill companies say not to worry about it: “85% of grillers globally expect to grill as often or more often after the pandemic than they did before the pandemic,” reads Weber’s IPO filing.
Weber and Traeger have both acquired cooking tech companies in recent years and have been adding new products to their lineup: think smart thermometers and apps that enable you to monitor food temperature from your phone.
Should a few IPOs deliver an influx of fresh cash into the barbecue market, there may be even more sets of tongs for barbecue-crazed Americans to choose from in the coming months.
