Operations

Muscle Maker Grill raising funds to expand via ghost kitchens

Provided

September 11, 2020

Hoping to raise capital to expand its non-traditional location growth initiatives on military bases, universities and ghost kitchens, Muscle Maker Inc. has priced its underwritten public offering of 3,294,118 shares of common stock at $1.70 per share. It's also granted the underwriters a 45-day option to purchase up to an additional 494,117 shares of common stock. The offering will close Sept. 15, according to a company press release.

"We believe the restaurant industry has changed due to COVID-19 and non-traditional locations along with delivery and ghost kitchens are the new norm," CEO Michael Roper said in the release. "Ghost kitchens represent a unique opportunity to expand and grow the brand presence across major metropolitan areas throughout the U.S. at a significantly lower cost of capital and at a rapid pace. We currently have ghost kitchen locations in the Chicago market and recently announced plans to expand into the Philadelphia market with more cities on the way."

The funds give the brand the potential to open or acquire up to 35 locations.

"We are very excited about these potential growth possibilities, and combined with the recently announced REEF Kitchens agreement believe we should have a full pipeline of new locations in the coming months," Roper said.

Alexander Capital L.P. and Kingswood Capital Markets, a division of Benchmark Investments Inc., acted as joint book runners for the offering.

Founded in 1995 in Colonia, New Jersey, Muscle Maker Grill belongs to Muscle Maker Inc., which also owns Healthy Joe's, Meal Plan AF & MMG Burger Bar.