Iloilo sugar miller CASA eyes P558M IPO

Iloilo-based sugar miller Central Azucarera de San Antonio (CASA) is planning an initial public offering (IPO) worth as much as P558.47 million to upgrade its sugar and biomass facilities and expand its landbank.

Based on a prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission dated Jan. 25, CASA plans to offer 214,571 primary shares while certain shareholders will offer 62,929 shares at a maximum price of P2,012.52 per share.

This will bring to public hands as much as 15 percent of CASA’s ownership.

CASA, which is owned by the Chan family, has mandated SB Capital to be the issue manager and underwriter.

As a sugar miller, CASA receives sugarcane deliveries from regional planters which it then processes into raw sugar and molasses. It keeps 30 percent of the final products as tolling fee and returns 70 percent to the planters. CASA assists its planters by bidding for and marketing their sugar and/or molasses.

CASA also operates a biomass cogeneration plant with sugarcane bagasse as its feedstock. It sells up to 8 megawatts (mw) of its excess electrical energy from its existing 15mw generator set to the Panay grid.