IPO on the radar of Dennis Uy-led Wendy’s and Conti’s

Davao-based tycoon Dennis A. Uy’s food businesses Conti’s Bakeshop & Restaurant and fast food chain Wendy’s Philippines are potential initial public offering (IPO) candidates once market conditions improve, according to the head of the country’s biggest investment bank.

Owned by Uy’s Udenna Group, Conti’s and Wendy’s have about 130 dining establishments combined.

Eduardo Francisco, president of BDO Capital & Investment Corp., said they previously explored consolidating and listing Udenna’s restaurants due to strong demand from investors.

“We have yet to pull the trigger because the market is down,” he said in a recent interview.

Conti’s and Wendy’s are among the assets snapped up by Uy from a debt-fueled buying binge during the Duterte administration.

A Udenna source said Conti’s stood out as one of the profitable ventures in the group in contrast to investments in telecommunications, gaming, logistics and energy, which have accumulated significant losses. Meanwhile, Francisco noted the IPO market could turn bullish with at least six offers ready to go after interest rates start to come down in 2024.

These include the potential P55-billion IPO of the Sy family-led SM Group’s real estate investment trust arm, followed by ports and gaming mogul Enrique Razon Jr.’s Prime Infrastructure Capital Inc., which was aiming to raise about P33 billion.

Last week, tycoon Edgar Saavedra’s Citicore Renewable Energy Corp. filed a P12.9-billion IPO with the Securities and Exchange Commission with a goal of listing on the Philippine Stock Exchange by March 15 next year.

Citicore Renewable, the country’s second largest solar power producer, aimed to sell around 2.9 billion shares at up to P3.88 each from March 4 to March 8 next year, with proceeds going to solar capacity expansion and battery energy storage systems, the company said in a preliminary deal prospectus.

Another 435 million shares would be sold by Saavedra’s Citicore Power for post-IPO price stabilization activities.

The three IPOs in 2023 were Alternergy Holdings Corp., Upson International Corp. and Repower Energy Development Corp., which raised a combined P13.1 billion. INQ