RC Cola maker eyes IPO

MANILA, Philippines - The softdrinks business of the Yao family’s Zest-O Group plans to list its shares in the local bourse as the early as the third quarter this year, the company’s top official said.

The recent decline in the stock market is not hindering the company behind RC Cola to conduct an initial public offering (IPO) for local and foreign investors, Asiawide Refreshments Corp. (ARC) chairman Alfredo M. Yao told reporters.

So far, the Philippine Stock Exchange index, the barometer of the local stock market’s performance, has shaved off six percent or 415.59 points from the recent record high of 6,835.21 as investors continue to pocket gains and due to uncertainties over the euro zone debt crisis.

“The market is down but that is just a correction of the counters. It is already high,” Yao said.

In February, the Zest-O beverage group announced plans to list ARC, the exclusive manufacturer and distributor of RC Cola in the Philippines.

“This time we have to go out [of the country]. Our target is to have a foreign component,” Yao said.

He said ARC is looking at raising more than P3.2 billion, the same amount netted by another Yao business, thrift lender Philippine Business Bank, that listed in the local stock exchange last month.

ARC will conduct a roadshow in Southeast Asia to tap the liquidity of foreign investors, Yao said.

Yao also said the Zest-O Group is looking at consolidating its beverage businesses through a holding company.

Fresh capital from the IPO will allow the company to expand its manufacturing and distribution business here and abroad.

It will likewise support the plan of the RC Cola manufacturer to tap Vietnam and Myanmar, two of the emerging economies in Southeast Asia.