Gourmet Egypt shares soar 38% on Cairo stock exchange debut

Foie gras and French goat cheese fueled Gourmet Egypt’s stunning debut on the Cairo stock exchange today, in which the upscale grocer’s shares rose as much as 38%.

With sales split between institutional and retail investors at 6.90 Egyptian pounds per share, the store’s IPO raised almost $28 million, Bloomberg reports.

Gourmet Egypt, which opened its business 20 years ago and specializes in imported foods such as Angus beef and Roquefort cheese, recently introduced ready-to-heat meals under its own “Handcrafted by Gourmet” label.

The Egyptian Exchange’s benchmark index has soared 68% over the past 12 months and officials are expecting as many as eight new listings this year.