The company that will close the initial public offering (IPO) curtain in the local stock market this year is a restaurant chain operator that seeks to ride on the reopening of the domestic economy and revenge spending by long locked-down consumers.
Figaro Coffee Group Inc. (FCG) just secured the Philippine Stock Exchange’s (PSE) approval for its IPO worth up to P1.77 billion.
Based on the PSE’s offering circular, FCG will finalize its offer price on Dec. 10 and run the IPO from Dec. 16 to 22. The shares will be listed on the main board on Dec. 31.
The company is selling up to 1.386 billion common shares at a maximum price of P1.28 per share. The base offer consists of 1.26 billion shares but in case of excess demand, the company has an option to increase the offering by 126 million common shares.
All of these are primary shares, which means all proceeds will go the company to fund its expansion plans.
“We are pleased that this year’s fund raising pipeline will be capped with an IPO. This shows that despite the pandemic, companies new to the stock market have the opportunity to raise capital through equity financing. We are looking forward to supporting FCG in its IPO as it aims to raise funds for expansion,” PSE president and CEO Ramon Monzon said on Tuesday.
Ten percent of FCG’s firm offer shares will be reserved for local small investors, who may subscribe to the IPO through the PSE EASy website or mobile application.
Net proceeds from the offering will fund new store openings and renovation, commissary expansion, debt repayment, IT infrastructure and potential acquisitions in the coming years.
The group also seeks to reactivate business with major institutional clients such as hotels, restaurants and airline companies and continue investing in research and development for new formulations, recipes and products.
The offering will bring at least 25.79 percent of FCG’s shares to public hands, which will increase to 27.66 percent if the overallotment option would be exercised.
This equity deal will bring FCG’s market capitalization to P6.4 billion.
FCG has mandated Abacus Capital & Investment Corp., China Bank Capital Corp. and PNB Capital and Investment Corp. as joint issue managers, lead underwriters and bookrunners for this capital-raising.
The company, which has been doing business for more than 25 years, is led by the group of businessman Jerry Liu, whose family also controls publicly listed electronics manufacturer Cirtek Holdings. The group operates retail restaurants with 90 combined branches nationwide and selected offshore markets.
As of September, FCG was operating 52 Figaro coffee shops, 31 Angel’s Pizza outlets, five Tien Ma’s Taiwanese cuisine restaurants, one TFG Express outlet and one Café Portofino outlet. Net profit in 2020 amounted to P103.31 million out of P840.86 million in revenues. In the first six months of 2021, profit hit P114.45 million as sales reached P857.35 million.