WallStreetJournal Online -- Marketbeat

Have it Your Way

12:03 p.m.: It's not quite the reception Chipotle Mexican Grill received, but Burger King shares are rising after the company priced its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange this morning, and the burger magnate's creepy mascot with its immovable head rang the opening bell. The company sold 25 million shares at $17 each, one of the largest restaurant IPOs of all-time, and shares were up 3.5% in trading on the Big Board under the symbol BKC.

[Burger King rings the bell]

The deal had its critics before pricing, as IPOdesktop.com analyst Francis Gaskins referred to it as "yet another leveraged buyout going public (again), with a disabled balance sheet." The chairman, John Chidsey, says the company plans on growing further, particularly abroad, where it has only 3,500 restaurants. The IPO comes on the same day CIBC analyst John Glass said he expects further growth from rival McDonald's. Other restaurant IPOs have done well this year, that is, if you were able to get in on the IPO. Since selling at $23.16 a share, Tim Horton's is up 18%, while Chipotle, which sold at $22 and doubled in its opening day, has by now nearly tripled, closing yesterday at $64.16.

--David A. Gaffen