Po family sells 6.4% of Century Pacific

THE PO family has sold a 6.4-percent stake in leading canned food producer Century Pacific Food Inc. (CNPF) for around P2.7 billion, heeding investors’ clamor to widen the company’s public ownership.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Wednesday, CNPF said its parent firm Century Pacific Group Inc. (CPGI) had agreed to unload 143 million of its existing common shares at P18.75 per share via an overnight book-building.

“The transaction was conducted to broaden CNPF’s shareholder base and is in response to overwhelming demand from global institutional investors for additional shares and improved trading liquidity,” CNPF said.

The equity deal effectively increased the public float of CNPF from 10.4 percent to 16.8 percent.

The placement price marked a 2-percent discount from CNPF’s 60-day volume weighted average price of P19.13 per share or a 5 percent discount from its last close of P19.68 prior to the private placement.

Arran Investment Private Ltd, an affiliate of Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC Private Ltd. (GIC), also recently exercised its option to convert a P3.4 billion loan earlier made to CPGI into around 11 percent of CNPF.

After the placement and conversion by the Singaporean sovereign fund, the Po family-owned CPGI remains the largest shareholder of CNPF with a 72 percent stake in the listed company.

Evercore Asia acted as exclusive financial adviser to the transaction while Deutsche Bank
AG and UBS AG acted as joint bookrunners and placement agents.

CNPF operates the largest food cannery in the Philippines, producing and distributing processed fish, meat and dairy products under brands such as Century Tuna, Argentina Corned Beef, 555 Sardines, Angel and Birch Tree. CNPF also provides private label tuna products for export overseas.