Century Pacific sets IPO price range at P12.50-P14.50

MANILA, Philippines - Century Pacific Food Inc., the country’s largest canned goods producer, has narrowed the indicative selling price for its initial public offering (IPO).

In a public notice, Century Pacific pegged the price range for the second IPO in the local bourse this year at P12.50 to P14.50.

Hence, the canned good manufacturer of the Po family stands to raise P2.87 billion to P3.329 billion from the public share sale.

The final IPO price will be set on April 21. Offer period will run from April 23 to 29, while listing of the shares in the PSE is scheduled on May 6.

Century Pacific will list 2.22 billion common shares, of which 229.654 million shares will be offered to the public.

“The company is the largest producer of canned foods in the Philippines in terms of retail value... In addition, the company’s brands have established market-leading positions within each of their respective segments,” Century Pacific said.

Bulk of the IPO proceeds will be used to pay existing debts, with the remaining funds allotted for capital expenditures, potential opportunistic acquisitions and general working capital.

The company is being advised by Evercore Asia Ltd. while the offer will be underwritten jointly by BDO Capital, BPI Capital and First Metro Investment Corp.

Century Pacific, the firm behind leading brands Century Tuna, Argentina and 555, is the Philippines’ largest producer of canned goods, cornering 84.1 percent of the domestic canned tuna market, 42.5 percent for corned beef and 25.6 percent for meat loaf.

“Leveraging on the company’s strong reputation and recognition for product quality, the company has also developed a multi-brand strategy within each product segment that allows it to broaden its reach to customers more easily than its competitors,” Century Pacific said.

The tuna manufacturer plans to strengthen its market leadership through new products and partnerships while venturing into new categories such as coconut water and premium meat products.

Last year, profits of Century Pacific hit P690.29 million as net sales reached P19.06 billion.

Century Pacific started operations in 1978 when businessman Ricardo S. Po Sr. set up Century Canning. Other brands of Century Pacific include Blue Bay, Wow, Birch Tree, Angel, Fresca, Lucky 7 and Shanghai.