Einstein Noah Returns to NASDAQ With Shares Offering Effective (BAGL, NWRG)

last night, Einstein Noah Restaurant Group, Inc. today announced the pricing of a public offering of 5,000,000 shares of its common stock at $18.00 per share.  This is the old New World Restaurant Group that traded under the Pink Sheet ticker "NWRG" and the new ticker is "BAGL" on NASDAQ.

The proceeds arefor restructuring and for debt repayment.  Morgan Stanley and Cowen & Co. are acting as joint book-runners on the deal, with Piper Jaffray listed as co-manager.  This one has been in the works for some time, so it will be interesting to see the full outcome.

The $90 million sold was about $10 million short of original expectations per its filing.

The original terms were for 5 million shares at a $19.00 to $21.00 range.  Here is a full summary ahead of the offering.   Earlier this week the company showed an SEC filing where its May 2007 comparable store sales "for company-owned restaurants" increased 5.8% compared to May 2006.

Jon C. Ogg
June 8, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at [email protected]; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.