Oatly — the maker of oat-based milks with celebrity investors who include Oprah, Jay-Z and former Starbucks CEO Howard Shultz — is going public.
The Sweden-based company filed a Preliminary Prospectus with the US Securities and Exchange Comission April 19 for an initial public offering in the United States, adding that it may add a Hong Kong listing in the next two years.
Oatly — which debuted in the US four years ago, said it plans to raise $100 million through selling American Depositary Shares and that it seeks to be listed as ‘OTLY’ on the NASDAQ stock exchange. The company had approximately $100 million in US revenue in 2020. Its products are sold in about 7,500 US retail stores and 10,000 coffee shops.
Oatly’s SEC document shared that Oatly had 2020 revenue of $421.4 million and a net loss of $60.4 million. That compares with a 2019 loss of $35.6 millon and revenue of $204 million. EMEA accounted for 64 percent of the company’s business in 2020, followed by the Americas with 24 percent and China at 13 percent.
Oatly said it may pursue a Hong Kong listing if it generates more than 25 percent of the company’s revenue from sales comes from Asia-Pacific for two consecutive fiscal quarters. Holding company China Resources owns more than 60 percent of Oatly.
The company received a major financial boost last year when Blackstone Group invested $200 million to lead the company’s private equity funding in July.
According to Euromoniter, the plant-based dairy industry’s retail value is expected to reach $7 billion by 2025.
According to Oatly, on average, a liter of Oatly product consumed in place of cow’s milk results in around 80 percent less greenhouse gas emissions, 79 percent less land usage and 60 percent less energy consumption.
Coke Adds Oat Milk
Meanwhile, as Oatly pursues its IPO, Coca-Cola is joining the oat milk scene with the launch of a new product in its Simply brand: Simply Oat.
Coca-Cola unveiled earlier in April that Simply Oat will become its second plant-based milk product, joining Simply Almond — which was announced in July 2020 and rolled out nationwide this past February.
Simply Oat comes in three varieties: Original (80 calories), Vanilla (80 calories) and Creamy (110 calories). Like Simply Almond, Simply Oat will be available in 46-oz carafes.
