Just Salad raises new funding at $1 billion valuation

By Abigail Summerville

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Just Salad raised $200 million in funding from an investor group led by Wellington Management, in a deal that valued the restaurant chain at about $1 billion, according to a statement seen by Reuters.

D1 Capital Partners, Neuberger Berman and Stripes also participated in the funding round. Just Salad has earmarked some of the capital for its plans to open new stores across the United States.

"This deal is going to take Just Salad from a successful regional chain to a national fast-casual player," Just Salad founder Nick Kenner said in an interview. 

Founded in 2006, Just Salad operates nearly 100 fast-casual restaurants in New York, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. The restaurant chain is known for its salads, wraps, warm bowls, soups and smoothies. 

"Our mission is to make everyday health and sustainability possible and this funding in a real way makes that achievable because we are now moving into markets where there aren’t a lot of other healthy options at times," Kenner said.

Kenner, who serves as CEO and will continue to hold a significant stake in the company, has plans to take Just Salad public in the future but is yet to finalize when a potential stock market launch could happen. 

Wellington is a Boston-based asset manager with over $1 trillion of assets under management. It has invested in several consumer companies such as personal care group Harry's, fitness company Peloton and apparel brands Skims and Vuori. 

New York-based Stripes has invested in several restaurants including Snooze, 7th Street Burger, Levain and PopUp Bagels.

Bank of America and Latham & Watkins advised Just Salad on the transaction.

(This story has been corrected to say that Kenner holds a large stake, but is not the majority owner of the company, in paragraph 6) 

(Reporting by Abigail Summerville in New York)