Turkish Burger King operator seeks to sell shares in Istanbul IPO

Istanbul: TAB Gida, the operator of Burger King in Turkey, has received approval to sell shares at Borsa Istanbul, potentially making it the largest Turkish initial public offering in dollar terms since 2018.

TAB Gida Sanayi ve Ticaret AS will sell as many as 52.5 million shares at 130 liras each to raise 6.83 billion liras ($246 million), according to a regulatory approval published after the market close on Thursday. The IPO comprises of about 28.9 million new shares while parent TFI TAB Food Investments will sell a further 23.6 million.

TAB Gida operates about 1,500 fast food restaurants in Turkey, Northern Cyprus, North Macedonia and Georgia, including more than 700 Burger King outlets. Its other operations include Arby’s, Popeyes, Sbarro and Subway, as well as a number of domestic brands. Its revenue jumped 125 per cent in 2022 to 8.62 billion liras, while net income was 361.8 million liras, according to the company prospectus.

In 2021, Bloomberg reported that a Turkish IPO was among the options for TFI TAB Food Investments. The company plans to use the proceeds from the offering to open new restaurants, build a 20mW solar power plant and pay debt, according to its prospectus.

The company will pay 215 million liras as intermediary fees in the IPO and 78 per cent of the shares will be offered to domestic retail investors.

By listing at Borsa Istanbul, TAB is joining a flurry of Turkish firms looking to cash in on a growing pool of local retail investors that powered a steep stock rally that started last year. About 40 companies have so far completed listing and have started trading in Istanbul this year.