PE-backed sandwich chain Potbelly expects to price IPO at $9-$11 a share

Potbelly, which operates 280 shops across the United States, will have a market valuation of $280 million at the mid-point of its expected price range.

The company is selling most of the 7.5 million shares in the IPO.

Maveron Equity Partners, American Securities Capital Partners LLC and Oak Investment Partners are among Potbelly’s majority shareholders, according to the company’s IPO filing. (http://r.reuters.com/met33v)

The company had in August filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to raise up to $75 million through its IPO. (Full Story)

Potbelly, which will list its shares on the Nasdaq under the symbol “PBPB”, will use proceeds from the offering to pay a cash dividend of about $50 million and to repay debt.

BofA Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs are the lead underwriters to the offering. Robert Baird & Co, William Blair and Piper Jaffray are also among the underwriters.

Aman Shah is a reporter for Reuters News in Bangalore