Shares of Australian fast-food chain Guzman y Gomez soar 39% on trading debut

Mexican-themed fast-food chain Guzman y Gomez made a stellar debut on the Australian Stock Exchange on Thursday, with its shares soaring as much as 39.1%.

The company, which was valued at 2.23 billion Australian dollars ($1.49 billion) based on its initial public offering price of AU$22 per share, saw shares rise to as high as AU$30.28 on debut.

Shares pared gains slightly to trade at about AU$30, up 36.36%, as of 1:47 p.m. Sydney time.

Guzman y Gomez, which first announced its IPO on May 31 with an offer size of 11.1 million shares, upsized it to 15.3 millionshares, raising AU$335.1 million. The company said it had received a commitment from funds advised by Capital Research Global Investors for subscribing its shares.

The company operates more than 200 restaurants in Australia, Singapore, Japan, and the United States, according to its website.

Guzman y Gomez’s IPO is Australia’s largest since chemical distributor Redox’s offering in July 2023 and the fourth offering above $100 million in the past two years, according to Bloomberg.

Barrenjoey and Morgan Stanley were the joint bookrunners for Guzman y Gomez’s IPO.