Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc., McDonald’s Corp.’s biggest independent franchise operator, gained as much as 27 percent in its first day of trading after raising $1.25 billion in its initial public offering.
Arcos Dorados, based in Buenos Aires, raised 33 percent more than it originally sought selling 73.5 million shares for $17 each yesterday, according to a company statement and data compiled by Bloomberg.
The company, which has 1,755 McDonald’s stores in Latin America and the Caribbean, has almost quadrupled its net income since 2007 when it acquired McDonald’s business in the region for $698 million, its prospectus said. Last year, Arcos Dorados accounted for 5.1 percent of the fast-food chain’s global sales.
The restaurant operator rose $4.26, or 25 percent, to $21.26 at 10:09 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. McDonald’s stock fell 29 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $76.60.
There have been 45 U.S. IPOs this year, excluding investment funds and acquisition companies, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The largest was HCA Holdings Inc., a Nashville, Tennessee-based hospital chain, which raised $3.79 billion in March. That offering was later expanded to $4.35 billion after underwriters exercised an overallotment option to buy additional shares, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Several private-equity firms sold Arcos Dorados’s shares yesterday, including Gavea Investimentos Ltda., the company founded by former Brazil central bank President Arminio Fraga.
Brazil’s expanding economy, Latin America’s biggest, has helped Arcos Dorados build its business there. Revenue at McDonald’s restaurants in Brazil surged 33 percent last year. McDonald’s, based in Oak Brook, Illinois, recorded revenue growth of 5.8 percent during the same period.
McDonald’s, the world’s largest restaurant chain, had 32,737 locations in 117 countries as of Dec. 31, according to a company filing.
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