Blue Apron prices IPO at low end of expected range

Meal-kit delivery company Blue Apron priced the shares it's selling in its initial public offering at the low end of its expected range, a sign that it might be having trouble attracting investors.

The New York company said that the 30 million shares in its IPO would be priced at $10 per share. Blue Apron initially forecast pricing shares in the offering between $15 and $17 a piece, but then dropped the predicted range to $10 to $11.

The pricing of Blue Apron's IPO comes as competition to deliver groceries heats up.

Among Blue Apron's rivals are HelloFresh and Plated, which ship boxes to customer's doorsteps with all the raw ingredients needed to make home-cooked meals. E-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc. is expected to shake up the industry after announcing plans to buy organic grocer Whole Foods earlier this month. And Amazon already sells meal kits in some cities with recipes created by media mogul and TV cook Martha Stewart.

Blue Apron, which was founded five years ago, has never made a profit. But its revenue skyrocketed to $795.4 million last year, more than double its level in 2015. The company said it had more than 1 million customers at the end of March.

Blue Apron's stock, which is anticipated to start trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, will be listed under the symbol "APRN." The offering is expected to close on July 5.