PHOENIX (AP) — Natural and organic food store chain Sprouts Farmers Market LLC said Monday that it priced its public offering of 18.5 million shares for between $14 and $18 per share.
The company is selling about 17.7 million shares and other stockholders are selling 797,785 shares.
Underwriters will have an option to buy another 2.8 million shares.
Sprouts Farmers Market plans to become a Delaware corporation and trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol SFM.
Proceeds from the offering will be used to pay down $247.6 million in debt and general corporate purposes.
Based in Phoenix, Sprouts Farmers Market offers natural and organic products in stores that average about 27,500 square feet. It was founded in 2002 and operates 163 stores in eight states. The company said it had 2012 sales of about $2 billion and has the potential to open at least 1,200 more stores under its current format.