Balai ni Fruitas gets PSE greenlight for IPO

Food kiosk king Lester Yu is rolling out the P309-million initial public offering (IPO) of Balai ni Fruitas Inc. in the latter part of June after receiving the go-signal from the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).

The funds would be used to expand the store network of Balai Pandesal and other brands such as Buko ni Fruitas and Fruitas House of Desserts. Balai ni Fruitas, controlled by Yu’s publicly listed Fruitas Holdings Inc., earlier obtained preclearance from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

“We are grateful to both the SEC and PSE for granting preliminary approvals to the Balai IPO, to get us nearer our goal of raising public funds by the first half of 2022. We look forward to welcoming new Balai shareholders to partake in its growth journey,” Yu, Balai president and CEO, said in a statement.

Yu added that shareholders of Fruitas, which is selling shares as part of the IPO, would also benefit from “having a subsidiary gain access to the full range of capital-raising options.”

Balai is selling up to 412.5 million shares at a maximum indicative price of P0.75 per share.

This involved the sale of 325 million primary common shares while Fruitas would sell 50 million shares. Fruitas could sell an additional 37.5 million shares as part of an overallotment option.

P1.12 billion market value

Based on the revised timetable, Balai’s IPO will be priced on June 14 this year. The offer period will run from June 17-23. Its PSE trading debut, under the symbol “BALAI,” is targeted for June 30.

First Metro Investment Corp. has been appointed as the sole issue manager, bookrunner and underwriter for the offering.

Balai, which is selling up to 27.6 percent of its shares to the public, would have a market value of P1.12 billion at the maximum offer price.

Meanwhile, the company reported a turnaround for full-year 2021 with profits reaching P8.2 million from a P900,000 loss the previous year. Revenues reached P148.9 million, up 35 percent.

—Miguel R. Camus