Montreal fashion brand Groupe Dynamite launches IPO on Toronto Stock Exchange

Groupe Dynamite, the Montreal company behind women’s fashion retailers Dynamite and Garage, has launched a $300-million initial public offering on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

The company starts trading subordinate voting shares on Thursday under the ticker GRGD, having signed an agreement with its underwriters to trade at $21 per share, according to a news release. The IPO closes on Nov. 26.

Groupe Dynamite is set to have a market capitalization of $2.3 billion. That would make its CEO and owner Andrew Lufty a billionaire, according to Bloomberg. The executive will retain 87 per cent of the company.

The underwriting group — led by Goldman Sachs Canada Inc., BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc., RBC Dominion Securities Inc. and TD Securities Inc., among others — will have the option of issuing an additional 2.14 million shares up to 30 days after the IPO closes.

Groupe Dynamite is one of the first major Canadian companies to go public after a years-long IPO drought in the Canadian market.

The company was founded in 1975 with a single store in Montreal, and has since grown its footprint to nearly 300 stores across Canada and the United States. It has 6,000 employees.