Biz Buzz: Christmas gift fit for a billionaire
So, what can you give a billionaire like Puregold founder Lucio Co for Christmas that is guaranteed to make him smile? A Nokia E52, apparently.
Yes, indeed, a good-old feature phone whose reliability and long battery life more than make up for the lack of bells and whistles. For Co, function will always trump fashion.
He just needs to talk and text, explained Co during the recent Christmas gathering with reporters and editors, so he does not really need to get the latest models that are on most people’s wish list for Christmas 2014.
And knowing that the model is quite old and replacement parts may be difficult to come by, he has about three brand new units in storage “just to make sure.”
But for those who can’t find a Nokia E52, another gift option is a pair of black leather Prada shoes.
He likes them because they are comfortable, he said, and so he has a couple of brand new pairs in his closet—all bought in Hong Kong at a 15-percent discount.
Goes to show that even a billionaire can’t resist a good bargain. Tina-Arceo Dumlao
Khazanah enters BDO
THE GROUP of tycoon Henry Sy has taken in Khazanah Nasional Bhd, the Malaysian government’s strategic investment fund, as a minority investor in banking crown jewel Banco de Oro Unibank.
On Monday, a unit of SM Investments Corp. (SMIC) sold a 2-percent stake in BDO Unibank to Khazanah’s Pulau Kaca Investments Ltd. Some 71.62 million BDO shares changed hands at P104 per share for a total deal size of P7.4 billion.
The deal with Khazanah is seen as a vote of confidence in BDO’s “industry-leading business franchise, strong balance sheet and good corporate governance.” This investment is seen to further strengthen BDO’s institutional shareholder base and an “affirmation of the attractiveness of the Philippines as an investment destination given its strong growth and sound macroeconomic fundamentals,” BDO said.
To recall, SMIC chief finance officer Jose Sio said during the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Summit last October that to prepare for the integration of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) starting 2015, the group was willing to partner with foreign groups with the same philosophy in key businesses like banking, property and retailing. This deal with Khazanah seems to raise the curtain on what could be a series of regional alliances that the SM group will look into. And since 2 percent is but a drop in the bucket, if the alliance works out, we won’t be surprised to see Khazanah (which was one of the cornerstone investors during the public offering of housing developer 8990 Holdings) being a more substantial investor in BDO. Doris C. Dumlao
Speaking of which…
AFTER its banking arm and investment banking unit recently harvested a string of awards from foreign publications, it’s now the turn of the parent unit—SM Investments Corp.—to be recognized internationally.
This time, the honor was bestowed on SMIC by renowned Hong Kong magazine The Asset for “excellence in financial performance, corporate governance and investor relations for several years running.”
Dubbed the Platinum Award, SM received this trophy from The Asset for seven years.
The awarding ceremony was held last week in Hong Kong’s swanky Four Seasons Hotel and the conglomerate was represented by senior vice president for finance Franklin Gomez, who said the honor encouraged SMIC people to “work harder and continuously raise the bar.”
Of course, the companies of the SM group are no strangers to this particular honor as BDO Unibank and SM Prime Holdings also received Platinum Awards for the same categories. More importantly, BDO and SM Prime were excellence awardees of The Asset for the past six years.
The Platinum Awards were given to a total of 57 elite companies based in Asia. These include China Telecom, CNOOC, Lenovo Group, Li & Fung and Sun Hung Kai Properties.
Aside from financial performance and corporate governance, companies were assessed based on a range of metrics such as the quality of their social responsibility, environmental responsibility and investor relations.
And despite the fact that SMIC operates in the relatively smaller market that is the Philippines (compared with China or Hong Kong, that is), the Sy family-owned conglomerate is nothing to scoff at when it comes to the international scene. SMIC is, after all, a company with one of biggest market capitalizations in the country. Daxim L. Lucas
IPO-bound coffee firm
The coffee industry’s outlook seems bright with Bo’s Coffee set to go public in about three years.
Bo’s founder Steve Benitez told Biz Buzz that an IPO was in the cards as soon as the company reaches the necessary scale. So far, the chain has about 60 branches with plans to double this in two years, he recently told Japanese publication Nikkei.
That’s good news for coffee producers here, given that Bo’s is a strong supporter of the local industry.
Moreover, the chain, which started almost two decades ago in Cebu, has held its own against larger foreign players like American coffee company Starbucks.
It shouldn’t be surprising that more small to mid-size companies are considering going public after the stunning performance of technology firm Xurpas.
Apart from its prospects, the Xurpas deal, handled by SB Capital Investment, highlighted the benefits of “leaving something on the table” for investors (which is to say, pricing one’s shares reasonably so as to leave enough upside for stock market investors).
Of course, it’s probably no coincidence that Benitez and Xurpas CEO Nico “Nix” Nolledo are good friends, having forged close ties at the Entrepreneurs’ Organization-Philippines, which Benitez currently heads. Miguel R. Camus
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