Emperador Distillers eyes P20 B from backdoor listing

MANILA, Philippines - The backdoor listing vehicle of liquor maker Emperador Distillers Inc. plans to generate more than P20 billion in fresh capital through a share sale.

In a regulatory filing, TrillionStars Holdings Inc. (formerly Touch Solutions Inc.) said controlling shareholder Alliance Global Group Inc. (AGI) “has launched an offering of up 1.8 billion common shares of TSI.”

The offer shares represent around 12 percent of the total issued shares of TSI, which was used by Emperador to list via the backdoor route.

“The offering is being made by AGI with a significant portion of the proceeds going to TSI,” the company said.

International Financing Review (IFR), a publication of Thomson Reuters, reported that Emperador targets raising P16.12 billion to P21.13 billion in fresh capital for the share sale. Selling price will be finalized on Sept. 19, IFR said.

The P8.96 to P11.74 selling range represents a 1.36 percent to 32 percent discount to TSI’s closing price of P11.90 yesterday.

TSI has hired Macquarie Capital (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. as the lead manager of the offering which is currently under the book building process.

Late last month, AGI and other investors agreed to subscribe to 15 billion new TSI shares at par value. The shares came from the proposed increase in the authorized capital stock of TSI.

Emperador will become the fifth listed firm of property tycoon Andrew L. Tan. Flagship investment firm AGI and property developers Megaworld Corp., Suntrust Home Developers Inc. and Empire East Land Holdings Inc. are already public firms.

Early last month, Emperador Distillers committed to invest P5.8 billion in Spain as part of its plan to become a significant global brand. It earlier acquired 100 percent of Spanish brandy maker Bodega San Bruno, including the San Bruno trademark that has been registered since 1942.

Emperador Distillers targets to double its sales volume in the next five years as it intends to corner a third of the global brandy market. The liquor maker sold 31 million cases of brandy last year.

TSI, for its part, was previously controlled by Shiok Success International Ltd., a wholly-owned company of Singapore-based Capilion Corporation Pte. Ltd. that planned to manage and operate its Philippine businesses through TSI.

TSI has figured in numerous market speculations, specifically the intention of being used as a vehicle for backdoor listing. In December, its share price surged on rumors that it would be the backdoor listing company for Mercury Drug of Companies, the largest pharmacy chain in the Philippines.