Does Burger King Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BKC) love the public eye? It probably does. Wednesday morning marks the outset of Burger King’s comeback into the public market. Around one and half years ago-2010 to be exact-it was pulled off the public market by 3G Capital through a $4 billion purchase.
Although the typical practice is to extend an IPO, Burger King will avert this process and become a public company once again. This follows the settlement of a merger agreement between Burger King and Justice Holdings. The agreement was put in ink on Wednesday.
Justice Holdings Ltd (LON:JUSH) created a new Delaware based Holding company following its exit from the London Stock Exchange. Justice will nest Burger King into its portfolio through this Delaware based company. Together the two will make an entrance into the NYSE as Burger King World Wide.
Owners of Justice Holdings now have a 29% stake at Burger King. This 29% stack, formerly owned by 3G capital, gleaned figures in the excess of $1.41 billion cash for 3G.
The transaction and comeback have however not passed by absent controversy. There was a lot of confusion brought about by the unmanageable number of holding companies involved. As a solution, the Securities and Exchange Commission was issued with a filing that supposedly contained two flow charts. Using two flow charts is not ‘business as usual’. It actually steers clear of the typical process. it is however allowed under SEC rules.
Although not certain, the comeback may have been influenced by Burger King’s recent bullish stretch. Notable progress has been made in its turnaround efforts. The first quarter of 2012 marked the first positive growth in two years as sales increased by 4.2%. This breakthrough was instrumental in gleaning the $25 million profit at the end of the quarter.
Burger King opened trading at $14.50 after the Wednesday morning bell at the NYSE.
