Cake Box Holdings PLC (LON:CBOX) has made a sweet start to life as a listed company.
Shares in the cake shop chain were sold at 108p as part of the float but hit 126.5p on Wednesday afternoon – a 17% gain on their first day of trading.
The rise gives the company a market capitalisation of just over £50mln.
Cake Box was founded by two cousins, Sukh Chamdal and Pardip Dass, who have retained a 61.8% stake in the business.
Egg free cakes
The two family members opened their first Cake Box store in Upton park, London in 2008 and now have more than 90 franchises up and down the UK. The goal is to grow that number to 250 over the coming years.
“Our IPO is the latest phase of an exciting journey for Cake Box and I am delighted with the very strong reception we have received,” said Chamdal.
“Looking ahead, we are confident that we have all the ingredients to continue to grow our franchise estate to 250 stores and further expand our slice of the sizeable UK cake market, with a unique customer proposition and limited direct competition.”
The business, which generated sales of £12.8mln in the year through to March 31, was born out of a request from Chamdal’s daughter for a cake without eggs in it.
As a result, all of the firm’s cakes are egg-free and vegetarian-friendly, which customers can have a message iced onto while they wait.