Toast Inc. is planning an initial public offering that could value the software vendor for restaurants at around $ 20 billion, people familiar with the matter said.
Toast hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. to subscribe to a possible listing later this year, these people said. It could also consider other options, including a sale or combination with a blank check company, some of the people said. There is no guarantee that Toast will eventually go public or pursue another option.
By going public, Toast, a 10-year company whose valuation jumped several times in the past year, would join a booming IPO market, fueled recently by the debuts of companies like Affirm Holdings Inc. and Bumble Inc. Both stocks are trading much higher than their IPO prices, as are those of 2020 predecessors, including Airbnb Inc. and DoorDash Inc.
Also boosting the registry IPO market is a wave of so-called special-purpose acquisition companies, which go public without a business and then look for one to merge.
Founded in 2011 by Aman Narang, Jon Grimm and Steve Fredette, Toast provides payment processing hardware and cloud-based software to restaurants. In addition to basic point of sale offers, its products include payroll processing and email marketing, and it also lends to restaurants through Toast Capital. Competitors include Square Inc. and PayPal Holdings Inc.