Thursday, August 5th, 2021
Delicious stocks?
Weber-Grill goes public
In large parts of the world Weber claims to be the market leader in grilling. In the Corona crisis, the industry is experiencing a real boom, which the company wants to take advantage of and get fresh coal when it debuts on the stock market.
The Weber grill is well known, what else do they do?
George Stephen claimed to have invented the iconic Weber kettle grill in 1952. But Weber-Stephen Products, based in Palatine, Illinois, did not stop there. It has long since stopped making its living just building the instrument for roasting meat. Even before the pandemic, the portfolio was expanded: from grilling courses and books to an app that, coupled with a thermometer, reminds you to turn the grilled food.
If you like, you can also dig deep into your pocket. For the most expensive gas grill, up to 4200 euros can be charged. It has long since ceased to be just a simple brazier with a grill grate over it – there are now multiple burners with WLAN connectivity and smartphone control. According to Weber, 50 million grills have sold so far, 30 million of them in the USA. Weber claims the role of market leader in a number of countries, including the USA, Australia, Canada, France and Germany.
Why do you step onto the parquet now of all times?
It is the logical consequence of the past weeks and months. While many industries are suffering in the corona pandemic, a hype ignites when barbecuing. And Weber wants to benefit from this. Public life will be shut down in early 2020, and many people will withdraw into their own four walls. And also spend their money on it. The result: The grill market benefits enormously.
In the six months to the end of March, Weber increased sales year-on-year by over 60 percent to $ 963 million (EUR 811 million). The profit was even more than tripled and rose to almost 74 million dollars. The German trade association Heimwerken-Bauen-Garten reported that a longer trend was fueled by the pandemic.
At least in Germany, the effects of the pandemic will likely reverberate. Contact tracking, corona tests: All of this makes it less attractive to eat out in the catering trade. In the USA it is already different, in large parts the restrictions have been lifted. So how sustainable the barbecue boom is remains to be seen. Weber has been around for a long time. But in 2019 – before the pandemic – sales and profits fell.
Is Weber the only grill giant with a stock market debut?
Of course not. On the way to the stock exchange, a real race has developed among the barbecue giants. Weber only has to be content with second place. Traeger, another US manufacturer that focuses primarily on smoking with wood pellets, made the start last week and celebrated a very successful debut on the stock market. The smoker specialist came out with $ 22.21 just above the issue price of $ 18.
Even if the sprint to the stock exchange was lost, Weber is the clear and undisputed market leader. According to Forbes, the company has a global market share of 24 percent. The grill manufacturer is benefiting from the great hype in the USA. The next grill-related IPO is already in the starting blocks. The BBQGuys, an e-commerce platform for all things outdoor cooking, is already ready. It is supported by the former NFL stars Eli and Peyton Manning.
The bratwurst is now available for vaccination, so why do you need a grill?
Why not? Grilling is now about more than a piece of meat on a gridiron over a pile of glowing coal. Regardless of whether it is powered by gas or electricity, barbecuing also moves with the times. So-called “grill fluencers” have been around for a long time. In addition, meat-free alternatives are also trendy.
The managing director of the Cologne trading company Santos Grills, Daniel Schellhoss, puts it this way: “In the past, the car was a man’s status symbol, but that has changed in times of climate change.” Gas grills as part of the garden or balcony have now become a status symbol for which consumers are willing to spend more money than before.
“Anyone who bought a grill in the past had it for ten years – at least,” says Schellhoss. Today, after just three to five years, consumers wanted a new model that was bigger and had more burners and additional functions, for example for grilling with the rotisserie or an 800-degree zone for caramelizing steaks.
And how much is Weber actually worth now?
Good question. The holding company BDT Capital Partners currently holds the majority of the shares in Weber Inc. In the last round of financing last November, the company was valued at 2.4 billion dollars. The company wants to get a lot of coal when it goes public. A total of nearly 49.6 million shares are expected to be placed at prices between $ 15 and $ 17 each. The market value could be more than eight billion dollars.
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