Report: Chobani Says Market Conditions Caused Withdrawal of IPO

After announcing in March that it was delaying its planned initial public offering (IPO), yogurt company Chobani announced Friday (Sept. 2) that it is withdrawing the IPO.

The company said in a Friday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it has decided not to pursue the IPO and that no securities had been sold.

A Chobani spokeswoman attributed the decision to the current market conditions, and said the company would continue to focus on profitable growth, according to a Friday report by The Wall Street Journal.

The company confidentially filed for its IPO in July 2021, and an insider told Reuters at the time that its valuation could exceed $10 billion.

Read more: Grocery Roundup: Chobani Goes Public, Shipt Goes Personal

As PYMNTS reported at the time, Chobani is known for its Greek yogurt but also makes coffee creamers, plant-based dairy replacement products and ready-to-drink coffees.

Chobani Founder and CEO Hamdi Ulukaya had said in a February 2021 statement that, “As we create the food company of the future, we’ll look at all the options carefully to fuel our ambitious plans, especially with oatmilk and plant-based products. An IPO is definitely one exciting direction but whether or not we’re public, we’ll keep disrupting and making things better.”

In March 2022, the company put its IPO on hold, and four executives — the president and chief operating officer, the chief people officer, the chief strategy officer and the chief corporate affairs officer — left the company, according to a March 11 report by The Wall Street Journal.

The departures of the executives were attributed to both the IPO’s delay and personal reasons, the report said, citing unnamed sources.

At that time, too, the report said the IPO had been put off due to turbulence in the markets that had started in November 2021.