Dive Brief:

• Pinstripes began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday under the symbol PNST, the company said in a press release. 
• Last week, Pinstripes and Banyan Acquisition Corporation, a special purpose acquisition company, completed their business combination. Pinstripes is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Banyan, which has changed its name to Pinstripes Holdings. Pinstripes’ current management will remain in place.
• Pinstripes has raised $70 million in gross proceeds in connection with this business combination and plans to use the funding to open new units.

Dive Insight:

Pinstripes, which has 14 units, plans to grow to 23 units by the end of the year and has already identified 150 potential whitespace opportunities. The company expects to have $190 million in estimated sales this year. Going public was part of the eatertainment chain’s plan for about five years, CEO and founder Dale Schwartz said in a past interview.

“Completing our business combination with Banyan and introducing Pinstripes to the public markets is a tremendous achievement and the next chapter in our business journey,” Schwartz said in the press release. “We have achieved strong results to date, and this transaction will help fuel our growth as we continue to scale and open additional Pinstripes locations.”

Pinstripes could also have more funding at its disposal in future years. As part of the $70 million in gross proceeds the company has raised, $50 million came through a senior secured loan due 2028 issued by Oaktree Capital Management, which could also issue an additional $40 million in aggregate principal no earlier than nine months and no later than 12 months following the closure of the loan.

Pinstripes marks the first restaurant company to go public this year after a relatively slow period in 2023, which saw Cava and Gen Restaurant Group issue IPOs. Panera Brands is likely to go public this year — as early as this quarter — through an IPO and has made several moves to ready itself for a return to the public market. Fat Brands also plans to issue an IPO for its Twin Peaks brand this year.