Calata buys majority stake in large meat supplier

Calata Corp. said it has acquired a controlling interest in the meat business of Galicia group, which supplies pork, beef and chicken to retailers SM and Puregold.

The company said in a statement that the acquisition was a major component in completing its “farm-to-plate” business model.

Calata said the deal covered Galicia’s existing facilities related to the animal farming and animal feeds business.

For more than 10 years, Galicia has been the exclusive provider of meat products to the SM Bonus brand. It is also a major supplier of the Puregold Supermarkets as well as of other large retail outlets in the country.

This is Calata’s first major move since its board last October approved an initiative that would buy back shares worth up to P100 million and which would run for 36 months.

The buyback program is expected to push through “if and to the extent that the price per share is deemed undervalued (and if) share prices are considered highly volatile.”

Also, the buy-back program depends on whether the company has sufficient unrestricted retained earnings to fund the exercise.

With the funding meant to be sourced from internal funds, Calata assured shareholders that “no adverse effect is expected upon future or current projects.”

Calata is a distributor of agro-chemicals, feeds, fertilizers, veterinary medicines and other agricultural products.

Of the proceeds from its IPO last year, the company said in a report to the Philippine Stock Exchange filed last January that it used P183.4 million to beef up its inventory, P10.3 million for the renovation of its stores and P7.4 million for operating expenses.