Mexican-themed restaurant chain Guzman y Gomez has made a sizzling start to life on the Australian Securities Exchange, with its shares surging nearly 40 per cent on debut.
The stock — under the ticker code GYG — rose 36 per cent to $30 in the first few minutes of trade, eclipsing its $22 per share issue price. The initial public offering price valued the company at about $2.2 billion.
Guzman y Gomez’s is by far the biggest float on the ASX since 2021 and eclipsed 2024’s largest IPO, the launch of Metals Acquisition, which had a market cap of listing of $1.2b.
Guzman y Gomez already has 185 outlets in Australia, with about 120 owned by franchisees and 62 corporate-owned. It wants to grow that number to 1000.
Globally, there are 16 in Singapore and five in Japan owned and operated by separate master franchisees and four corporate restaurants in the US.
It has a varied mix of store models — some featuring drive-thru ordering, others in suburban shopping strips as well as some in food courts and on university campuses.
The Mexican-themed restaurant chain plans to open another 30 restaurants in Australia in the 2025 financial year, with this number expected to grow to 40 a year within five years.
More to come.