Yesway IPO: Convenience store operator debuts on the Nasdaq

Premarket trading in Yesway (YSWY) has started on the Freedom trading platform. Later on Wednesday, the company’s shares will debut on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol YSWY (Freedom clients: to trade, click on YSWY).

Retailer Yesway raised $280 million in its Nasdaq IPO. It sold 14 million shares at $20 per share, in line with the lower end of the previously indicated range of $20-23 per share. The pricing gives the company a market value of $1.21 billion based on the number of outstanding shares listed in its filings, writes Reuters.

The IPO was led by Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, along with Barclays, BMO Capital Markets, KeyBanc Capital Markets, Guggenheim Securities, and Raymond James. The underwriters have been granted a 30-day option to purchase up to 2.1 million additional shares at the IPO price, less the underwriting discount.

The company plans to use proceeds from the offering to redeem preferred equity and, if funds remain, to reduce debt, IPO expert Donovan Jones wrote in a blog post on Seeking Alpha.

Yesway was founded in the U.S. in 2015 by Brookwood Financial Partners, which specializes in acquiring and managing commercial real estate.

In its early years, Yesway grew primarily through acquisitions before shifting toward building its own locations, according to its IPO prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company typically selects less densely populated areas for new stores. Its network now includes 449 convenience stores operating under the Yesway and Allsup’s brands across nine states in the Midwest and Southwest, according to its website. That makes Yesway one of the fastest-growing retailers, according to its own data. Over the next five years, the company plans to open about 130 new stores, the prospectus says.

For 2025, Yesway reported revenue growth of about 6% to $2.7 billion and an almost 2.3-fold increase in net income to $54 million, according to the filing.

This is not Yesway’s first attempt to go public. The company had been pursuing an IPO since 2021 but postponed those plans in late 2022 as economic uncertainty weighed on listing markets, Reuters reported.

Yesway is pursuing its IPO amid stock market volatility tied to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, Reuters notes.

“For IPOs, this uncertainty is a nightmare, particularly given its impact on energy prices and consumer affordability in the U.S. and around the world,” said Samuel Kerr, global head of equity capital markets at Mergermarket.

Jones sees the company’s strengths in its positioning in low-competition markets and its foodservice segment under the Allsup’s brand. Among the risks, he cites dependence on car owners, fuel price volatility, and the spread of electric vehicles. Most Yesway locations are combined with gas stations.

Freedom Finance analyst Alem Bektemirov, in turn, highlights competition, reliance on a limited number of suppliers, and legal risks as key concerns. Based on an industry average price/earnings of 21.18 and Yesway’s 2025 net income of $54 million, the company’s fair value is estimated at $1.144 billion, or $18.87 per share, which is 5.6% below the IPO price of $20 per share.

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Freedom clients will be able to trade Yesway shares before the start of the main U.S. session. Premarket trading will open 2-3 hours early, at 15:30-16:30 Astana time. Investors can participate by selecting the symbol YSWY on the Freedom platform.