Gokongweis readying for retail unit’s P40-B IPO

While waiting for a more favorable timing, the group of tycoon John Gokongwei has started doing the groundwork for the initial public offering (IPO) of retail unit Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc. worth about P40 billion, which could be the largest stock market debut in the country.

Taking advantage of strong investor interest in the consumer segment and given a  growing economy, Robinsons Retail Holdings has submitted an application at the Securities and Exchange Commission for the offering of up to 461.897 million primary shares at a maximum price per share of P86.64.

Documents from the SEC showed that this offering, 70 percent of which to be offered to international investors, will bring to public hands about a third of the company’s post-IPO capitalization.

Robinsons Retail has mandated Deutsche Bank AG Hong Kong branch, JP Morgan Securities plc and UBS AG Hong Kong branch as the offering’s joint global coordinators, bookrunners and international lead managers, based on the documents.  Maybank ATR Kim Eng Capital Partners was also named the sole domestic lead underwriter.

The Gokongweis’ retail group is one of the country’s biggest retailers, that also include  SM Retail and Puregold Price Club.  It has 27 years of retailing experience with its chain of department stores, supermarkets, hardware and home improvement outlets, appliance stores, fashion specialty stores, convenience store and toy store Toys R’ Us.  Proceeds from the IPO are expected to be used to expand its various retailing formats.

Lance Gokongwei, president of JG Summit Holdings Inc., earlier said this unit would be operated as a holding firm for all retailing concerns of the group and that there was no plan to fold it into the conglomerate in the future.

JG Summit controls several other publicly listed companies—food group Universal Robina Corp., property developer Robinsons Land Corp. and budget carrier Cebu Air.

While the IPO application for the retail unit has been filed, Gokongwei said the group would wait for a better timing for the listing.

He said it was important for the group to have a “successful IPO.”

The planned IPO will bring to the local market another major retail play, after businessman Lucio Co’s Puregold Price Club Inc.  The SM group, however, keeps its retail business as a unit under holding firm SM Investments Corp.