Tender offer to Pancake House shareholders up
The Max’s restaurant group has launched a tender offer to minority shareholders of casual dining chain Pancake House who want to exit at the same terms as those enjoyed by 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 Jan. 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 about 76.7 percent of Pancake House.
The new investor group intends to keep Pancake House as 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); Chickens ‘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 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, for its part, was founded in 1945 and 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 marked a premium of 6 percent to Pancake House’s closing price and a premium of about 7 percent to its 90-day volume-weighted average price at the local stock market prior to the announcement of the deal.
