Keepers re-IPO attracts strong demand from retail investors
Retail tycoon Lucio Co-led liquor firm The Keepers Holdings Inc. has completed a P4.5-billion follow-on offering (FOO) that was warmly received by the stock market due to its bargain pricing relative to peers.
“We are overwhelmed by the warm reception that Keepers’ FOO received, especially the very strong participation from the retail investors,” Keepers president Jose Paulino Santamarina said in a press statement on Monday.
The country’s leading distributor of imported liquor sold 3 billion common shares at an offer price of P1.50 per share and will list its new shares on the main board of the Philippine Stock Exchange on Nov. 19 (Friday).
Joseph Roxas, president of Eagle Equities, said that at P1.50 per share, those who had subscribed to this offering paid only 13 times the potential earnings of Keepers this 2021.
Strong demand for the offering was due to its dominant distribution locally, said Manny Cruz, chief strategist at Papa Securities.
“Despite this [dominant market position], its FOO offering is priced attractively at 16 times 2022 full-year earnings compared to other listed peers like Emperador [which is trading] at 24 times [2022 earnings],” Cruz said.
Keepers has a 74-percent market share based on the volume of imported spirits distributed in the Philippines.
The maximum allowable subscription amount for local small investors had been increased to P1 million from P100,000 for this offering. To ensure equitable distribution, smaller subscription orders were prioritized ahead of larger orders.
