Lucio Co-led Cosco buys Office Warehouse

MANILA, Philippines–Cosco Capital Inc., the holding firm of Filipino-Chinese businessman Lucio Co, is taking over office and school products supplier Office Warehouse Inc. as part of its expansion into non-food specialty retailing.

Lucio Co. FILE PHOTO

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Tuesday, Cosco said it had signed a deal to acquire 100 percent of the share capital of Office Warehouse, which has about 47 stores.

Office Warehouse is the biggest retailing platform of the Lorenzana family.

“It’s part of our expansion into the specialty retail as differentiated from our heavy engagement in the food retail represented by Puregold,” said Cosco president Leonardo Dayao in a phone interview.

Once a purely oil, gas and mining play called Alcorn Gold Resources Corp., Cosco was transformed by Co as a holding firm for bulk of his businesses. The assets injected into this company consisted of the following: 51 percent stake in the country’s second largest grocery operator Puregold Price Club Inc., an array of liquor distribution companies, a portfolio of
commercial real estate companies and an oil storage business (Pure Petroleum Corp.).

In liquor distribution, the group is the dominant player in premium wine and liquor market with exclusive rights to leading brands. In real estate, commercial centers have an average occupancy rate of 96 percent in the last three years, backed by the retailing business.

While reducing its interest in the mineral extraction industry, Cosco is increasing its focus on consumer-related businesses such as “non-food” specialty retailing such as pharmacy and construction/hardware materials distribution.