Property tycoon cements control of Emperador backdoor listing vehicle

Andrew Tan. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines–The group of tycoon Andrew Tan has cemented control of TrillionStars Holdings Inc. (TSI), the backdoor listing vehicle for liquor unit Emperador, by acquiring additional shares that will allow flagship holding firm Alliance Global Group Inc. to control 87.55 percent.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, AGI said it had agreed to purchase 1.43 billion additional shares in TSI – to be renamed Emperador Inc. – from the previous majority owner Shiok Success International Ltd. and Dew Dreams International Ltd. The additional shares bought were equivalent to 9.5 percent of TSI’s outstanding shares.

TSI earlier acquired 90 percent control of TSI with its subscription of 13.5 billion shares while Shiok’s stake was reduced to 4.95 percent from 54.48 percent. But as TSI last week placed out 12 percent of shares to institutional investors, all shareholders were diluted accordingly.

But after the settlement of the offering and the acquisition of Shiok and Dew Dreams’ residual interest by Tuesday (Sept. 25), AGI will own about 87.55 percent of the total issued shares of TSI or the future Emperador Inc. The remainder will comprise TSI’s public float, which is within the 10 percent minimum level required for continuing listing by the PSE.

About 1.8 billion common shares of TSI were sold to the new investors last week at P8.98 per share, raising about P16.2 billion for the company. Proceeds were meant to fund the growth of Emperador, the largest brandy producer in the world.

As of Monday, TSI’s market capitalization has risen to P143 billion, up from P135 billion at the time of the offering.