Chinese firm eyes PSE listing

Eyeing the booming retail market in the Philippines, a Chinese firm is buying into a local sporting goods company and is seeking entry into the local bourse at the same time.

Hengda Group Holdings is set to acquire a 40-percent interest in Sporteum Philippines Inc., a local company that developed the homegrown “Accel” footwear brand.

Sporteum chair Philip Go said that details of the acquisition deal are still being firmed up.

The Chinese holding firm is also keen on being part of the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).

“If all goes according to plan, we will be the first foreign company to be publicly traded on the PSE,” Hengda Group chair Ding Jianming said in a briefing.

Hengda Group, he said, is very much interested in the Philippines because of its rosy economic prospects, and its young, fast-growing middle class with increasing purchasing power.

Go said the partnership would promote not only Accel products, but other brands in all retail stores throughout the country.

The local brand presently has 7 to 10 percent market share, Go said.

The partnership with the Hengda Group will enable Sporteum to introduce new brands, such as the Chinese Vobu.

Such brands should carve out a separate 10 to 15 percent share of the local sporting goods market, Go said.

Sporteum’s revenue grows by 9 to 10 percent each year. With the investment from the Chinese firm, Sporteum hopes to accelerate sales growth by up to 25 percent in the first year of the partnership.

The Vobu brand is expected to be launched in the Philippines  by the end 2013, or by the time the deal between Hengda Group and Sporteum has been consummated.

Sporteum will soon complete a study on its potential market in China, where the Filipino company hopes to establish a presence with the help of the Hengda group.

Using the factories of Hengda’s units, Sporteum plans to go into manufacturing on the mainland.