URC to sell more shares to global investors

Gokongwei-owned food manufacturing unit Universal Robina Corp. (URC) will sell an additional 95.217 million common shares to global institutional investors to meet the strong demand for the company’s shares following its recently-concluded offering.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, URC said its shareholders JG Summit Holdings Inc., Express Holdings Inc. and Robinsons Supermarket Corp. agreed to sell 21.849 million, 53.597 million and 12.21 million common shares, respectively.

URC successfully sold a total of 634.78 million common shares in a recently-concluded primary and secondary offering at P18 each, raising around P11.43 billion.

With the implementation of the greenshoe option or the overallotment option, the company is expected to raise about P12.41 billion in proceeds from the offering.

The money will be used to fund the continued expansion of URC’s branded consumer food operations primarily in a multi-product beverage line in PET bottles in the Philippines as well as international markets particularly China and Vietnam.

With the relisting of its shares on the exchange, URC’s free float has increased to 40.8 percent or about $300 million with parent company JG Summit Holdings Inc. remaining a long-term majority shareholder owning 59.2 percent.

The Gokongwei group is also looking at relisting the shares of its property arm Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC) within the year. It wants to raise RLC’s minimum public float to as much as 40 percent from the current seven percent.

RLC has appointed Macquarie Securities (Asia) Pte. Ltd as financial adviser to study and evaluate the options available for the company to boost trading liquidity.

Parent company JG Summit Holdings Inc. holds 74 percent of RLC, which operates shopping malls and develops high-rise residential and office condominiums and residential communities. About 19 percent of the property concern is held by URC.

With the sale of URC and eventually RLC, the group hopes that investors will also re-value JG Summit.

The company has already entered Japan through its Magic Flakes biscuits.

URC has production facilities in Thailand, Malaysia, China, Indonesia, and Vietnam and sales/marketing offices in Hong Kong and Singapore.