June 28, 2013 9:14 pm [ manilatimes.net ]
The
Gokongwei family’s Robinsons Retail Group may sell up to 35-percent
stake to the public in line with its initial public offering plan (IPO)
within the year.
“We’re probably looking [to sell] up to 35
percent of the company,” Lance Gokongwei, JG Summit president and chief
operating officer, said, adding that the IPO may raise up to $800
million, or approximately P34 billion.
He said that the plan is to
use the proceeds from the public offering for store expansion and
possible acquisition of new chains or brands.
However, Gokongwei didn’t give an exact date when the company will officially list its shares at the Philippine Stock Exchange.
“As
you know we’ve already undergone our registration with the SEC
[Securities and Exchange Commission] for our IPO but IPO is also
dependent on the market. It’s more important that we have a successful
IPO, so we will wait for the right time. We have to wait for the
market,” he said, citing that the original target is to do the offering
some time this year or by the end also of this year.
Gokongwei
explained that after the IPO, Robinsons Retail will be a retail holding
company focused purely on multiformat retailing that includes department
stores, supermarkets, hardware and convenient store.
“IPO is
certainly important in the sense that there’s a huge consumer
opportunity in the Philippines, especially at the middle-class growth,
so right now, access to capital is important to continue to gain market
share in this industry and to participate in its consolidation,”
Gokongwei further said.
Earlier this month, it was reported that
Robinsons Retail Group has been firming up its plan to raise around P40
billion through an IPO, which could be considered one of the largest
public share sale conducted by a Philippine company.
International
Financing Review (IFR), a publication of Thomson Reuters, earlier
reported that the group is targeting to sell as much as 461.9 million
shares at a maximum price of P86.64 apiece, to generate up to P40
billion in fresh capital.
Robinsons Retail Group owns and operates 35 department stores and 73 supermarkets nationwide.
According
to IFR, the IPO of the group is scheduled in the third quarter of this
year, adding that Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan and UBS have been tapped to
facilitate the offering.
Madelaine B. Miraflor
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