Toast Inc. plans an IPO that could value the restaurant software provider at about $ 20 billion, people familiar with the case said.
Toast tapped Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. to endorse 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 people said. There are no guarantees that Toast will eventually go public or pursue another option.
Toast, a 10-year-old company whose valuation has risen several times over the past year, would enter a red-hot IPO market on its IPO recently sparked by the high-profile debuts of companies such as Affirm Holdings Inc. and Bumble Inc. The shares of both are trading well above their IPO prices, as are those of the 2020 predecessors, including Airbnb Inc. and DoorDash Inc.
The record IPO market is also driven by a wave of so-called special-purpose acquisition companies, going public without a company and then looking for a company to merge with.
Founded in 2011 by Aman Narang, Jon Grimm and Steve Fredette, Toast provides payment processing hardware and cloud-based software for restaurants. Aside from the core point-of-sale offering, 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.