Max’s set to acquire all of Pancake House

MANILA—The Max’s restaurant group has launched a tender offer to minority shareholders of casual dining chain Pancake House who may want to exit on the same terms as the controlling Lorenzo family.

Minority shareholders accounting for about 60.37 million shares or 23.29 percent of Pancake House are given the option to sell their shares at P15 per share, the same price at which Max’s group is taking over the company.

Based on a regulatory filing on Friday, the tender offer period will run from January 20  to Feb. 17 this year, with BPI Securities Corp. as the offer agent.

The tender offer is in compliance with corporate regulations after the Max’s group struck a deal to buy  76.7 percent of Pancake House. The new investor group intends to keep Pancake House a publicly listed company, based on a regulatory filing.

The entities bidding for the minority shares are the following: Max’s Kitchen Inc. (controlled by the Fuentebella family); Chicken’s R Us Inc. (mostly owned by the Trota family); Max’s Express Restaurants Inc., Square Top Inc., No Bia Inc., Max’s Bakeshop Inc., The Real American Doughnut Co. Inc., Room Ventures Corp., Trota Gimenez Realty Corp. and MGOC Holdings.

The buyout deal by the Max’s group values 100 percent of Pancake House at P3.9 billion. This consolidation also creates one of the country’s largest restaurant chains.

Founded in 1974, Pancake House has 105 outlets of flagship brand Pancake House for a total of 300 other outlets across other brands like Dencio’s, Kabisera ng Dencio’s, Teriyaki Boy, Sizzlin’ Pepper Steak, Le Coeur De France, The Chicken Rice Shop, Maple and Yellow Cab.

The Max’s group was founded in 1945 and now has 150 Max’s stores in the Philippines and overseas. The group has also brought to the country international food brands such as Krispy Kreme and Jamba Juice.

The P15-per share pricing of the deal represented a premium of 6 percent above Pancake House’s closing price and a premium of about 7 percent above its 90-day volume-weighted average price on the local stock market prior to the announcement of the deal.