Bento Inc. Files Preliminary Prospectus for Initial Public Offering of Subordinate Voting Shares

MARKHAM, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - May 29, 2017) -

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION IN THE UNITED STATES

Bento Inc. ("Bento") today announced that it has filed a preliminary prospectus with the securities regulatory authorities in each of the provinces and territories of Canada for a proposed initial public offering and secondary offering of its subordinate voting shares (the "Offering"). The Offering will include a treasury offering by Bento and a secondary offering of subordinate voting shares of Bento by entities controlled by Ken Valvur, Bento's founder and Executive Chairman and Glenn Brown, Bento's President and Chief Executive Officer.

Scotia Capital Inc. and CIBC World Markets Inc. are acting as joint bookrunners for the Offering.

The preliminary prospectus contains important information relating to the subordinate voting shares and is still subject to completion or amendment. Copies of the preliminary prospectus are available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. There will not be any sale or any acceptance of an offer to buy the subordinate voting shares until a receipt for the final prospectus has been issued.

No securities regulatory authority has either approved or disapproved of the contents of this news release. The subordinate voting shares have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws. Accordingly, the subordinate voting shares may not be offered or sold within the United States unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or pursuant to exemptions from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities of Bento in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

About Bento

Bento is a leading branded sushi producer operating in Canada and the U.S. with a multi-channel business model that includes QSRs, both co-located in our grocery store and institutional food service partner locations and standalone, and fresh packaged food. Fresh sushi is prepared daily by on-premises chefs and sold to consumers at our 569 QSRs while fresh packaged food is produced at our six central production facilities and delivered to over 1,500 of our grocery store and institutional food service partner locations for sale to consumers. Bento's diversified business model enables us to serve sushi to consumers in a range of different end markets across operationally and geographically diverse networks, including grocery stores, educational institutions, hospitals, airports, airlines, shopping centres, street fronts, offices and entertainment arenas. Bento has a longstanding reputation among both consumers and our partners for consistently providing delicious, fresh, high quality and sustainably sourced sushi with an emphasis on product innovation and food safety.