Food and beverage kiosk operator Fruitas Holdings Inc. filed a P1.2-billion initial public offering application with the Securities and Exchange Commission to finance its store network expansion.
Fruitas said in a statement it would also use proceeds from the IPO to finance store improvement, expansion the commissary and food park business, acquisitions, introduction of new concepts and debt repayment.
The company plans to offer up to 533,660,000 in primary common shares with an over-allotment option of up to 68,340,000 outstanding common shares at a maximum price of P1.99 each. Gross primary proceeds can reach a maximum of P1.06 billion while the total IPO could reach P1.2 billion.
The public float can reach up to 28.2 percent of the company’s total issued shares after the offering.
Fruitas appointed BDO Capital & Investment Corp. and First Metro Investment Corp. as joint issue managers, book runners and lead underwriters of the offering.
“The proceeds will be used to fund our store network expansion across the Philippines and expand our commissary to serve more customers. New capital will also be used towards acquisition of foodservice businesses and introduction of new concepts which have a strategic fit with our operations,” said Fruitas president and chief executive Lester Yu.
“We view the potential listing on the Philippine Stock Exchange as part of our growth journey and are excited to have taken the first step by filing our registration statement,” he said.
Fruitas plans to offer the shares from November 18 to 22 and list them before the end of the year, subject to regulatory approvals,
The Fruitas Group has aggressively expanded from more than 400 stores as of end of 2016 to 949 stores as of June 30, 2019.
Fruitas reported P1.58 billion in consolidated revenue last year, up 37 percent from P1.15 billion revenue in 2017, driven by the strong performance of its stores.
Fruitas currently has over 20 brands in its portfolio, including household names Fruitas Fresh From Babot’s Farm, Buko Loco, Juice Avenue, Buko Ni Fruitas, Johnn Lemon, Black Pearl, and food parks like Uno Cinquenta in Maginhawa and Le Village The Lifestyle Park in E. Rodriguez Sr. in Quezon City.
Fruitas in 2015 acquired Negril Trading, the company housing De Original Jamaican Pattie Shop and Juice Bar, and the assets of Sabroso Lechon in 2018.