Century Pacific Food Inc., manufacturer of branded canned tuna Century Tuna, could be the next Initial Public Offering (IPO) of the year after it recently got approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission to issue shares to the public.
Century Pacific plans to raise as much as P3.33 billion from the said offering by selling up to 229.65 million shares.
IPO Price and Offer Period
There is final offer price yet, but the company has indicated each share will be priced at no more than P14.50. The final price is set to be announced on April 21, right before the offer period.
The offer period, or the time the shares are initially made available for sale, will run from April 23 to 29.
First day of trading of shares in the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) is tentatively set on May 6.
The company is allocating 70% of the IPO shares (or 160.758 million shares) to institutional buyers; 20% (or 45.990 million shares) to PSE trading participants, and 10% (or 22.965 million shares) to local small investors.
(See also: Investing through the Local Small Investors Program in the PSE)
After the IPO, the company’s public float or the percentage of total company shares owned by the public, is 10.3%.
BDO Capital and Investment Corporation, BPI Capital Corporation, and First Metro Investment Corporation are the joint issue managers of the IPO transaction.
Usage of IPO Proceeds
The company intends to use proceeds from the IPO to fund capital expenditures for expansion and profit improvement, make potential opportunistic acquisitions, retire debt and improve working capital.
Aside from using the fund to strengthen its market leadership in the canned tuna industry, Century Pacific plans to venture into new categories such as coconut water and premium meat products.
The company is the Philippines’ leading manufacturer of premium-priced branded canned tuna, marketed as Century Tuna, which has the biggest market share in that category.
Century Pacific also markets the following brands:
- Blue Bay and Fresca (mid-priced canned tuna);
- 555 (low- to mid-priced canned sardines and tuna);
- Wow (processed meat and Filipino ulam)
- Argentina (corned beef);
- Swift (processed meat, such as corned beef, vienna sausage, meat loaf, etc.)
- Birch Tree and Angel (powder and liquid milk)
- Kaffe de Oro (powder coffee)
The company is currently building a tin can factory in General Santos City that will produce at least 2 million tin cans per year, around 25% to 30% of the company’s requirements. The plant is expected to be operational by year-end.
Century Pacific is also building a dairy and mixes plant facility in Taguig City with a production capacity of 11,000 cases per day.
Company Profile
Started in 1978 by businessman Richard Po Sr., Century Pacific is primarily engaged in the development, processing, marketing and distribution of processed fish and meat in the Philippines.
In 2013, the company’s Net Income reached P690.29 million on Sales of P19.06 billion.
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