Above Food Corp. Goes Public: Shares Now Trading Under ‘ABVE’ on Nasdaq – vegconomist
Above Food Corp., a vertically integrated plant-based food company, announced the start of trading for the common shares and warrants of Bite Acquisition Corp. (formerly NYSE AMERICAN: BITE) and Above Food under the combined entity, Above Food Ingredients Inc. Trading begins today, July 1, on the Nasdaq Stock Market with the ticker symbols “ABVE” and “ABVE.W.”
The business combination was approved by Above Food shareholders on June 7, 2024, and Bite’s stockholders on April 29, 2024. The transaction was finalized on June 28, 2024.
“By completing this transaction, Above Food has strengthened its position in the industry”
Lionel Kambeitz, founder, CEO and executive chairman of Above Food Ingredients Inc., remarked on the milestone: “The completion of our business combination marks a major step forward in our vision to drive transformative change across the entire food value chain.”
Strategic acquisitions
Above Food announced plans to go public in May 2023, with Bite Acquisition Corp valuing the company at a pro forma enterprise value of approximately $319 million. Since then, Above Food has acquired assets from agricultural genomics company NRGene Technologies Ltd, plant-based food manufacturer Atlantic Natural Foods, and GoodWheat, a wheat product company from Arcadia Biosciences. Just days before the IPO, Above Food also announced the acquisition of Spanish foodtech company Brotalia (commercially known as Foody’s).
Kambeitz noted the strategic benefits of the merger with Bite: “By completing this transaction, Above Food has strengthened its position in the industry with the buildout of our integrated facilities and infrastructure.
“With ample capacity across our existing assets to more than double our revenue, we are ready to capitalize on the tremendous market opportunity that is being supported by powerful secular trends around plant-based foods, supply chain traceability, and sustainable practices.”
Stakeholder value and future growth
Alberto Ardura, former Chairman and CEO of Bite, commented, “We are pleased to have played a role in bringing this industry-leading, differentiated food company to the public markets where it can continue to execute its compelling growth strategy and create significant value for all of its stakeholders. We look forward to continuing to work alongside the Above Food team to help them achieve their growth objectives and deliver the substantial margin expansion we believe is inherent in this business to drive sustainable free cash flow.”
“We are excited to enter this next phase of growth as a publicly traded company and believe we are well-positioned to leverage our vertically integrated model to drive attractive margins and generate shareholder value,” furthered Kambeitz.
