Burger King Holdings Inc. (BKC.N: Quote, Profile, Research), the world's second-largest hamburger chain, on Friday said that it has retired $350 million in debt soon after its May 18 initial public offering.

"Reducing the debt level of our company by 25 percent allows us greater flexibility in financial markets as well as increased cash flow for future investment spending, which will, in turn, benefit our shareholders and investors in the long term," Chief Executive John Chidsey said in a statement.

Burger King was bought by private equity firms Texas Pacific Group, Bain Capital and a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS.N: Quote, Profile, Research) affiliate in 2002 for about $1.5 billion from British drinks company Diageo Plc (DGE.L: Quote, Profile, Research).

The initial public offering of 25 million shares, which represents a 19 percent stake in the company, was worth about $425 million.

Burger King had previously said that it planned to use the proceeds from the IPO to pay down $350 million in debt taken on to help finance a $367 million special dividend paid to its investors -- mostly the same private equity funds -- in February.

Shares of Miami-based Burger King rose 35 cents, or 2 percent to $17.70 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.