Mexican food chain Guzman y Gomez has put its planned ASX float on hold after a bumper year of sales driven by COVID-19 and a significant investment from leading fund manager Hamish Douglass.
The chain which sells a quick and ‘clean’ take on Mexican food has grown rapidly to 151 stores globally, 21 of which will open this financial year.
Founder and chief executive Steven Marks said the IPO, which was initially slated for November last year, had not been derailed by COVID-19, just put on the back burner after the chain secured an $86.8 million investment from Hamish Douglass’ Magellan Financial Group in December.
The investment from Magellan, which has more than $100 billion in funds under management, valued Guzman y Gomez at $870 million, higher than a reported IPO valuation of $500 million. “We thought that was fair,” Mr Marks said. “When you value businesses, you don’t value them in the past, you value the infrastructure you’ve built and what the future looks like.”
Source: The Sydney Morning Herald
By Cara Waters
