Nov. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Kathmandu Holdings Ltd., an outdoor equipment retailer in New Zealand and Australia, rose in Sydney as its shares began trading for the first time on the nation’s stock market.

Kathmandu stock rose to A$1.76 at the close of trading in Sydney, 3.5 percent more than the A$1.70 paid by investors this week in an initial public offering that valued the company at A$340 million ($315 million). The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.9 percent.

Goldman Sachs JBWere Pty and Quadrant Private Equity sold all of their stock in the IPO, taking advantage of a 26 percent rise in the benchmark index this year. Shares in the IPO were sold near the bottom of the A$1.65 and A$1.90 range forecast last month.

Kathmandu is the second initial share sale of an Australia retailer in as many months after Myer Holdings Ltd., the nation’s largest department store chain, raised $1.9 billion in October. Myer shares have yet to trade at or above the A$4.10 investors paid in the IPO.

Goldman Sachs JBWere and Quadrant led the leveraged buyout of Christchurch-based Kathmandu for NZ$275 million ($201 million) in April 2006. In September that year, the firms bought the remaining 49 percent from founder Jan Cameron.

Kathmandu plans to almost double its number of stores within five years by opening as many as 70 outlets, it said last month. Earnings before interest and tax may advance 15 percent to NZ$50.6 million in the year ending July 2010, the company said in its prospectus.

To contact the reporter on this story: Robert Fenner in Melbourne rfenner@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 13, 2009 00:22 EST