Noodles & Co.’s expansion plans raise IPO speculation
Executives at Boulder-based Noodles & Co. say they expect to expand to 500 locations sometime in the next four to seven years, raising speculation about an initial public offering.
Board chairman Aaron Kennedy said Noodles investors have been in touch much more frequently since Denver-based Chipotle Mexican Grill and others went public this year.
“Everyone’s very excited for what the implications are for the value of Noodles & Co.,” he said. “How they capture that value is a topic that we continue to discuss.”
That could come by offering stock or drawing investment from private-equity firms, he told the (Boulder) Daily Camera.
Noodles, like Chipotle, is part of the so-called fast-casual dining sector. After Chipotle grabbed $122 million in a January IPO, the market is craving similar concepts, said Francis Gaskins, president of research site IPOdesktop.com.
That may be good news for a company like Noodles.
“If they’re profitable, they could go public,” Gaskins said. “The question is if they want to.”
Kevin Reddy, a former Chipotle executive hired by Noodles last year to serve as chief executive and president, said Noodles for now is focused on customers, not Wall Street.
DENVER
Court weighs Qwest’s selective disclosure
A federal appeals panel in Denver is considering whether to draft rules allowing companies to disclose information to government investigators but not to others.
Attorneys for Qwest and shareholders who sued the company and former executives in 2001 argued the case Tuesday before the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.
The case stems from a lawsuit that Qwest has agreed to settle for $400 million. Shareholders are still suing former executives. They are seeking access to 220,000 pages of documents Qwest shared with the government.
Qwest claims the documents are protected by attorney-client privilege.
NEW YORK
Consumer confidence highest in four years
The Conference Board said consumers shrugged off higher gasoline prices this month and sent its widely watched barometer of consumer confidence to its highest level in almost four years.
The private research group said its consumer-confidence index rose to 109.6 from a revised 107.5 in March. April’s reading was the highest since the index touched 110.3 in May 2002. Analysts had expected a reading of 106.4.
WESTMINSTER
India’s Subex Systems buying Azure Solutions
Azure Solutions Ltd., a revenue-assurance company, said Tuesday it would be acquired by Subex Systems Ltd., a Bangalore, India, software company.
The deal is worth $140 million, according to the Business Standard, a daily newspaper in India.
Azure, a privately held London-based company and 2003 spinoff of British Telecommunications PLC, employs 200 worldwide and has its North American headquarters in Colorado.
The combined company, Subex Azure Systems Ltd., will continue to base its U.S. operations in Colorado, working with clients such as T-Mobile USA, Verizon, Vodafone and AT&T.
DENVER
Janus elects directors, declares dividend
Shareholders of Denver-based mutual-fund family Janus Capital Group Inc. elected Michael Bills, Landon Rowland and Steven Scheid to three-year terms as directors at the company’s annual meeting Tuesday.
The Janus board also declared a dividend of 4 cents a share payable May 31 to stockholders of record May 15.
OVERLAND PARK, Kan.
Wal-Mart bank plans panned at hearing
Community and regional bank officials presented a nearly unified front Tuesday in opposing Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s application to form its own bank at a hearing before U.S. regulators.
Noting the retail giant’s history of dominating every business sector it enters, small-town bank executives and statewide banking groups said a Wal-Mart-controlled bank would dry up financial resources in some towns, endanger the country’s banking system if it were to fail and give the company an unfair competitive advantage.
Wal-Mart officials said they were confident they would win approval and that their goal is not to compete with existing banks but to save customers money by lowering their transaction-processing costs.
CENTENNIAL
Late auto payments lowest in two years
Centrix Financial announced Tuesday that consumer automotive-loan delinquencies have dropped to their lowest levels in more than two years.
Centrix, which underwrites and manages subprime auto loans nationwide, suffered a spike in late payments last year after Hurricane Katrina, higher gasoline prices and the new personal bankruptcy laws that took effect in October.
CHICAGO
Existing-home sales rise slightly in March
Sales of existing homes, which make up about 85 percent of all homes sold, increased 0.3 percent in March to an annual pace of 6.92 million, according to the National Association of Realtors.
That was higher than the 6.9 million pace in February and the 6.57 million pace in January but lower than the 6.97 million pace in March 2005. Sales were up in the Northeast and Midwest but dropped slightly in the West and South.
CASPER
Wyo. pipeline group seeks oil-price parity
Expanding pipeline capacity and converting a pipeline that now carries natural gas to carry crude oil were two possible solutions that came out of a Wyoming Pipeline Authority meeting Tuesday discussing how to boost prices of oil produced in Wyoming, Colorado and other Rocky Mountain states.
Growing competition from Canadian oil, temporary reductions in refining operations and a shortage of pipeline capacity are all contributing to Rocky Mountain oil being sold at a lower price than the world price.
JEFFERSON COUNTY
Lockheed Martin courts students
Lockheed Martin will open its doors to students ages 6 to 18 years Thursday during the company’s annual Young Minds at Work Day.
More than 2,200 students are registered for this event as part of Lockheed’s educational-outreach efforts to promote the importance of math and science. Students will get to shadow Lockheed employees and receive a tour of the company’s Waterton Canyon facilities, where rockets and spacecraft are designed and built.
