Thank you for sharing this, I'm glad I came across this thread...

Thank you for sharing this, I'm glad I came across this thread as I thought I was the only one!

I've spent many years looking into GYG, and was very excited at their listing last year, I was eager to buy shares.

I frequented their first location in Newtown when it first opened, and admired them...But then I saw their valuation... and I kept watching it to disbelief.

This has to be one of the most grossly overvalued companies I've ever come across... to the extent, that I believe potentially there might be a class action that will go against the directors for misleading or key investors/directors for market manipulation at some stage...

None of their international expansion strategy make sense.
The stores they have picked to roll out in within Illinois region is very strange... is this simply because in LA/NYC/TX they'd get slaughtered?
I've been reading the recent google reviews by the stores, and it's not pretty... an AUS company trying to compete in Fast Food in the home of fast food is insane...

"This location is new within the last few weeks. I guess they're still getting it together. There were 17 employees working behind the counter, it was a bit ridiculous. I ordered 3 plain tacos, only the meat. After driving 10 minutes home and opening the package, I find 3 tacos loaded with everything. Not a good start for me, it will be a while before I return and try again. Disappointed

Their domestic strategy doesn't make any sense either... they are trying to position as Chipotle yet have a TacoBell offer... and their locations are in Tacobell places (Petrol & Convenience + crappy spots). When you run a comparison to their competitor which is more aligned with Chipotle, Zambrero, it also screams out something a disconnect.

Zambrero: Recently valued at $1b, 256 locations, profitable.
GYG: 200 locations in Aus, $4b, not profitable.... $20m a store... crazy.
even if they reached the 1000 locations that McDonalds has, that's still valuing each site at $4m!

Speaking of profit... I'll be interested to see in their next report the North American operation broken down... because if they lost money in AUS with 200 stores, then I assume they'll be well into the red in the USA, and with USD exchange rate, that will accelerate losses quicker...

Another comparison is with Yum Brands.
Yum Brands: Valued at $40b USD, total 59,000 locations (KFC, TacoBell, PizzaHut etc).,
I.e. 58,800 locations more than GYG... and makes money... yet only valued roughly 10 times more than GYG.

Onto Board/Management:

The Founder, Steven Marks, my understanding, wanted to leave the company just two years ago... with the founder leaving, then coming back I don't really understand the personal passion? Did it fade? Or did he just have a falling out briefly with the board?

Then onto Bruce Buchanan, who I very much respect as a leader... why did he resign late last year? Also... a mate of Steven Marks.

I was very surprised when Steve Jermyn left suddenly too from the board...

Also, co-founder Robert Hazan left... that's very strange before the listing... did he have ethical dilemmas?

Onto Tom Cowan... so he is on the board... but was also on the board of Bruce's company... and mates... and provided the money for GYG during times when it was bleeding via TDM capital partners.. They are basically majority owner of GYG... with 28% share holding.. I think Tom is the one propping up the business with capital and I think Tom will be the one who will be looked into.

The Chairman, Russo, heavily invested in Somnomed and seems to have impeccable timing of buying shares... but that's a different story. I like him, he has a great track record with experience and I think he is a good operator, but I do hope he is keeping management accountable for shareholders (and not just his large holding) and not just blinded by his options that have consistently been printed out of thin air.

I don't think the board is perhaps looking at management impartially...

Finally.... Onto ownership.... well, it looks like top 20 holders own close to +90% of the company.... that seems insane, and rarely works out longer term.

Once key holders are allowed to sell over the next few weeks, then I think the rats will jump ship...

Overall, I think this company is significantly overvalued, and I think the share price is being propped up with such little volume available, but once that changes shortly, it will change. I wonder if this has a sub $15 target share price? I'm very suspicious.