Alliance Tuna to raise P215M from PSE listing

Alliance Tuna International Inc. (ATII), 78.8 percent owned by Thailand’s Agripure Holdings Plc., is planning to raise up to P215 million from the listing of its shares on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) this year.

Alliance Tuna International, a joint venture between Thai and Filipino businessmen, is a producer and distributor of canned tuna for export mainly to the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and the Middle East. Its plant, based in General Santos, has a production capacity of about 120 tons.

Sources said Alliance Tuna International will list on the second board of the exchange.

Alliance Tuna International has the right to lease a plant and machinery from a financial institution in the Philippines until December 2010, with the right to buy the assets throughout the period of the contract.

Agripure’s acquisition of Alliance Tuna International was in line with efforts to diversify its business into canned tuna. Agripure’s core business is River Kwai International Food Industry, a fully-integrated sweet-corn producer and fresh vegetable and fruit exporter, manufacturer and distributor.

Sources said two to four more companies are planning to list this year aside from Alliance Tuna International. So far only one company – First Generation Corp. of the Lopez family – went public, raising P8.5 billion.

For next year, the exchange is eyeing the listing of 10 firms, which includes GMA Network Inc. and some mining companies.

GMA-7 has moved its proposed maiden offering of shares to next year since the network still had a number of initiatives to do to enhance its value. It earlier planned on an initial public offering (IPO) in July.

The PSE has been stepping up efforts to convince big profitable companies to list on the exchange to boost investor confidence. It is also targeting companies that are required by law to list at the stock market.

In 2005, only two companies – Manila Water Corp. and SM Investments Corp. of retail tycoon Henry Sy were listed on the exchange.

An IPO is done by selling a portion of the company’s shares of stock at a price based on its book value or on its projected earnings for the year. These shares are then listed with the PSE so that stockholders and investors may trade the issue.