Groupe Dynamite shares fall 5% in first Canadian IPO of 2024

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Groupe Dynamite Inc. shares fell more than 5% in Toronto after its $300 million initial public offering (IPO), Canada’s first corporate listing on the country’s main exchange since March 2023.

Shares in the Montreal-based retailer, which has 300 stores in the United States and Canada under the Dynamite and Garage brands, closed at $19.85 each on Thursday in Toronto, after pricing the offering Wednesday at $21 per share.

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The trading gives Groupe Dynamite a market value of about $2.1 billion, and chief executive Andrew Lutfy’s stake nearly $1.9 billion.

The fast-fashion retailer’s listing is Canada’s first corporate IPO on the main board since Lithium Royalty Corp. raised $150 million in February 2023 and the largest since Bausch + Lomb Corp. raised $889.3 million in January 2022.

The company said late Wednesday it had signed an agreement to go public at $21 per share, which is the middle of the $19 to $23 range it announced last week.

Lutfy will retain about 87 per cent of the company’s shares and 98.5 per cent of the voting rights.

The offering was led by Goldman Sachs Canada Inc., BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc., RBC Dominion Securities Inc. and TD Securities Inc., with other institutions including Scotia Capital Inc. and Desjardins Securities Inc. as part of the underwriting group. The shares are trading in Toronto under the symbol GRGD.

—With assistance from Mathieu Dion.

Bloomberg.com

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