Chipotle Files for IPO

Posted by Bill Sjostrom

Last night Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., a majority owned subsidiary of McDonalds, filed with the SEC for a $100 million IPO of Class A Common Stock.  Click here for the registration statement.  Chipotle's capitalization also includes Class B Common Stock with super voting rights, most or all of which will be owned by McDonalds.  Hence, McDonalds will maintain voting control, notwithstanding the IPO.  Chipotle will be another example of what this post referred to as a public totalitarian regime, i.e., a public company controlled by one or a few shareholders.

Incidentally, I recently looked into how many calories are in a Chipotle steak burrito and was stunned to learn that there are a whopping 1,200+.  That's more than two Big Macs and about 60% of the recommended daily intake of calories.  Click here to check the number of calories in your favorite Chipotle burrito (note that this is not the Chipotle site as Chipotle does not itself provide nutritional information).  Chipotle includes the following in the Risk Factor section of its IPO prospectus:

In recent years, there has been an increased legislative, regulatory and consumer focus on nutrition and advertising practices in the food industry. Restaurants operating in the quick-service and fast-casual segments have been a particular focus. As a result, we may in the future become subject to initiatives in the area of nutrition disclosure or advertising, such as requirements to provide information about the nutritional content of our food, that could increase our expenses.

On an ironic note, McDonalds announced yesterday  that it will be including nutritional information on its packaging.  Cick here for an article.  And recall that the House just passed the Cheeseburger Bill.