Farm products distributor plans P540-M public offering

Calata Corp., a leading distributor of agricultural products in the country, is planning to debut on the Philippine Stock Exchange this year through a P540-million share sale.

In a prospectus submitted by the company’s chair, Joseph Calata, to the Securities and Exchange Commission dated February 22, Calata seeks to offer to the public 72.02 million shares evenly split between primary and secondary shares at an offer price of up to P7.50 each.

This exercise will bring to public hands about 20 percent of the company’s total stock after the initial public offering. Local investment house Unicapital Inc. was mandated as issue manager and issue underwriter.

Given that half of the offer shares or 36 million shares will consist of primary shares, the exercise will generate gross proceeds of P270 million, bulk of which Calata plans to use for a nationwide expansion program to retail agricultural products directly to consumers, farmers and other small dealers in the Philippines.

Of the proceeds, P132.89 million will be used to establish new outlets at an estimated cost of P1.33 million per outlet. Another P109.52 million was planned to boost working capital.

Calata claims to be the biggest combined distributor of agro-chemicals, feeds, fertilizers, veterinary medicines and agricultural products coming from manufacturers or business partners such as San Miguel Corp. for B-Meg Feeds. It also distributes veterinary products Syngenta, Bayer, Jardine, Dupont, Sinochem. For agrochemicals, it carries East West Seeds, Monsanto and Planters Products as well as Swire and Viking for fertilizers.

Calata said it would not use any proceeds to settle any debt or reimburse officers, directors, employees or shareholders. The company has seven directors including its chair. The other board members are Benison Paul de Torres, Jaime Laya, Baltazar Endriga, George Nava, Jose Zalde and Harvey Keh.

Formerly known as Planters Choice Agro Products Inc., Calata was incorporated in 1999. It reported a net profit of P100.17 million in 2011, tripling the P33.84-million level a year ago while sales turnover surged to P2 billion from P1.8 billion over the same period.

The company ended 2011 with P1.05 billion in assets, up from P661 million a year ago.