Business Abstracts

  Pizza maker and chain restaurant owner Shakey’s Pizza Asia Ventures, Inc. (PSE: PIZZA) disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange the acquisition of food kiosk operator Potato Corner, a company that Jose P. Magsaysay, Jr. founded in 1992. (Read the full report from Business World ) Po family’s holding company Century Pacific Group, Inc. owns 50.36% of PIZZA together with venture capitalist Arran Investments Pte. Ltd. (16.81%) and JE Holdings, Inc. (9.05%), as of 13 October 2021. Public investors own 23.57% of PIZZA. (Source: PSE Edge)

  Century Pacific Food, Inc. (PSE: CNPF) finalized the acquisition of LIGO Sardines Philippines, the owner of the popular canned tuna brand LIGO. The disclosure made to the Philippine Stock Exchange on 24 December 2021 mentioned the acquisition of the brand assets and intellectual property associated with the manufacturing of the brand’s product line. (Read the full report in Rappler.com ) CNPF is 68.72% owned by the Po family through its holding company Century Pacific Group Inc., as of 12 October 2021. Almost a third (31.22%) of the company belongs to public investors. (Source: PSE Edge) LIGO is acquired from A. Tung Chingco Manufacturing Corp. (Read the full report in Business World )

  Critical equipment may have lost its appeal to investors less than two years after the first case of COVID-19 was identified in the Philippines. Consequently, when the Villar family-owned Medilines Distributors Incorporated (PSE: MEDIC) conducted its IPO on 4 November 2021, as the second to the last IPO of the year, it became the worst performing IPO in 2021. On the first day of public trading at the PSE, its price declined 30.0% to a day low of P1.61 from its IPO price of P2.30 per share. Although the Co family's newly acquired and renamed The Keeper Holdings, Inc. (PSE: KEEPR) performed worse, plunging  31.3% on its first trading day on 19 November 2021, the market offering was a Follow-On Offering, which technically an IPO. KEEPR is majority (77.54%) owned by Cosco Capital Inc. (PSE: COSCO), the family's publicly listed investing holding company. Its public ownership percentage is 20.82% as of 18 November 2021.  (Sources: PSE Edge)

  Arabica coffee declined 5 percent to $2.231 a pound in the ICE Futures on 23 December 2021 to its four-week low, as production in Guatemala and Honduras improved. A broader selloff in the New York futures market occurred. However, the price remained at an increased level of around 75 percent after the reduction of output in Brazil and Colombia, two of the world’s top suppliers, after experiencing adverse weather.  (See the full report at Business Mirror .)

  Shell companies appeared to have their unique seduction in the Philippines.  On 16 December 2021, businessman Antonio L. Tiu disclosed his take over of the publicly listed shell firm Ever-Gotesco Resources and Holdings, Inc. (PSE: EVER), his third shell company acquired since 2008. (Read the full report from Bilyonaryo.com ) Tiu first took over MUSX Corp. (PSE: MUSX), a semiconductor company incorporated in 1992 in 2008, which he renamed later as Greenergy Holdings Inc. (PSE: GREEN), an investment holding company with a portfolio in agriculture (AgriNurture Development Holdings Inc.), agritourism (Winsun Green Ventures Inc.), real estate development (Sunchamp Real Estate Development Corp.), banking and finance, information technology (Lite Speed Technologies Inc. and Ocean Biochemistry Technology Research Inc. [non-operational as of yearend-2020]), and other environmentally friendly investments (Total Waste Management Recovery System Inc. [non-operational as of yearend-2020]). (Sourc

  A pioneering home-grown player in the Philippine coffee shop industry, Figaro Coffee Group Inc. has reduced its initial public offering to P0.75 per common share from its initial indicative price of P1.28 per share. Its offer period starts on 10 January 2021 and ends on 14 January 2021. Prior to its public listing, Figaro is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Figaro Coffee Systems, Inc., which has at least 28 years of presence in the Philippine industry. (Read the full report in Business Mirror .)