Chan’s Liwayway to list in Hong Kong

MANILA, Philippines — Liwayway, the snack foods giant chaired by Filipino-Chinese taipan Carlos Chan, is embarking on an initial public offering in Hong Kong for its China and Vietnam business.

In particular, the group is listing Liwayway Global Company Limited, the company behind the world famous Oishi brand in China and Vietnam.

It filed its preliminary IPO application on Friday to list in the Hong Kong stock Exchange. The application documents filed with the HK stock exchange does not yet include the size and timetable of the transaction, but as early as 2015, Bloomberg reported the company was targeting to raise as much as $200 million from a public listing.

It has tapped the Bank of China to handle the transaction.

In its application, Liwayway Global said it is the leading crispy snack food company principally engaged in manufacturing and distributing snack foods under the Oishi brand in China and Vietnam.

“We were the largest crispy snack food manufacturer (excluding potato chips and rice crackers) in China in 2017 and 2018 and the largest crispy snack food manufacturer in Vietnam, in terms of retail sales value for three consecutive years from 2016 to 2018, according to the Frost & Sullivan Report,” Liwayway Global said in the application documents.

Liwayway has had a long, successful history of serving China and Vietnam markets since 1993 and 1996, respectively, it said.

“We have established an extensive and continually growing product portfolio, underpinned by strategically located manufacturing facilities with standardized production and management systems and stringent food safety standards and quality control procedures, as well as nationwide sales and distribution networks that penetrate each of China and Vietnam markets,” Liwayway Global also said.

The company said that Oishi has been a well-recognized household brand in China and Vietnam.

“In particular, we ranked second by brand power index among crispy snack food companies in China in 2018, and were the most chosen snacks brand for in-home consumption in four key urban cities in Vietnam (namely Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Da Nang City and Can Tho) and in rural Vietnam in 2018 in terms of brand power by consumer reach points, which is a measure of brand purchase penetration and frequency in the food sector in Vietnam, according to the Frost & Sullivan Report,” it said.

Liwayway Global traces its roots back to the 1970s when Liwayway Marketing, a company founded by the parents of Chan, began to manufacture and distribute snack food products under the brand, “Oishi,” in the Philippines.

The business commenced in China in 1993 then in Vietnam in 1996.

Liwayway Global operates 14 manufacturing facilities including 10 in China and four in Vietnam.

The Chan Group has since established its presence in Indonesia, Cambodia, South Africa and other parts of the world.  Liwayway also has a well established presence in the Philippines.