NEW YORK — Shares of Burger King Holdings Inc., the world's second-largest hamburger chain, rose 7 percent in their market debut, a sign of strength for IPOs despite a slump in the stock market.
The initial public offering of 25 million shares, which represents a 19 percent stake in the company, was worth about $425 million. The shares were up $1.10 or 6.5 percent at $18.10 in afternoon trade on the New York Stock Exchange; they traded as high as $18.20 earlier.
"Despite Burger King's checkered operational history, lower cash-flow-margin profile and significant debt burden, the company appears to be coming to market at a pretty attractive price if you think it can meet management's expectations for top- and bottom-line growth that exceed projections for the industry," Renaissance Capital said in its featured IPO column on MarketWatch.com.
