Double Dragon debuts at PSE today

MANILA, Philippines - The property joint venture of Mang Inasal founder Edgar “Injap” Sia II and Jollibee Foods owner Tony Tan Caktiong is set to debut in the local bourse today.

The initial public offering (IPO) of DoubleDragon Properties Corp., the first in the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) this year, gives investors an exposure to the robust consumer and property sector in the long run, a brokerage firm said.

DoubleDragon raised P1.16 billion after selling 579.73 million primary shares at P2 apiece. Excluding costs like listing and underwriting fees, the company generated P1.03 billion in fresh capital.

The shares were 14 times oversubscribed during the bookbuilding process, said Eduardo Francisco, president of underwriter BDO Capital & Investment Corp.

Unicapital Securities Inc. and RCBC Capital Corp. are also facilitating the IPO.

Shares of the property firm will be listed in the small, medium and emerging board of the PSE.

DA Market Securities said DoubleDragon is a long-term buy considering the “consumer-property mix exposure; near-term and long-term growth catalysts, and strategic partnership of expertise and synergies.”

“Backed by expertise and experience of the founders of the biggest food retail businesses in the Philippines, the strong consumer growth story in the country inspires their foray into property, winning the partnership of the largest mall chain developer of the country, SM,” DA Market Securities said.

In February, mall and banking conglomerate SM Investments Corp. acquired 34 percent of CityMall Commercial Centers Inc. while DoubleDragon retained a 66-percent stake and the management control.

DoubleDragon aims to reach one million square meters (sqm.) of total leasable space portfolio by 2020, of which 700,000 sqm. is expected to come from the planned 100 CityMall community malls, mostly in the Visayas and Mindanao.