Blue Apron Pursues I.P.O. as Amazon Looms Over Industry<br />By MICHAEL J. de la MERCEDJUNE 19, 2017<br />Even as Amazon’s $13.4 billion bid for Whole Foods threatens to shake up food retailing, Blue<br />Apron, a New York-based meal-delivery service, is setting its sights on a stock market debut.<br />Shares of other grocery chains plunged after Amazon’s bid for Whole Foods was announced Friday, and analysts speculated about what<br />that union would mean for food-delivery start-ups like Instacart.<br />Whole Foods shares, meanwhile, continued to rise Monday<br />and closed at $43.22 — more than Amazon’s cash offer of $42 a share, suggesting investors are optimistic that a higher bid may yet emerge.<br />The service has begun pitching an initial public offering to raise as much as $586.5 million,<br />joining a growing number of consumer-focused start-ups considering the public markets.
