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AGRO-Commercial firm AgriNurture Inc. (ANI) is eyeing to
acquire the control and management of a local dessicated
coconut company after the successful buyout of juice
firm Nutrilicious Co.
ANI
president and chief executive officer Antonio Tiu
declined to name the company, but he said the coconut
firm is the operator of the largest single production
facility of dessicated coconut in the world.
Its
plant is designed to produce an output of about 22,000
metric tons (MT) of dessicated coconut per year for
domestic consumption and for export to countries like
the United States and China.
“Talks
are under way for the buy-out, if I may call it a
buyout. The owners have already agreed in principle to
relinquish 51 percent of the company to ANI. We hope to
forge a deal by the fourth quarter of this year,” said
Tiu.
Under
the buyout plan, ANI will have an option to acquire the
rest of the 49 percent after a given period.
“We’re
already finalizing the acquisition. We just have to push
for our planned IPO [initial public offering] so we can
secure the deal,” said Tiu.
Janssen
Ceo, company product manager and spokesperson, said the
ANI is looking to raise P1.2 billion by tapping the
equities market.
Ceo said
their projection is that they will raise P800 million to
P1 billion from the IPO debut.
ANI
plans to sell up to 20 percent of the company’s total
authorized capital stock to the public, 70 percent of
which would be offered to domestic buyers and the rest
to offshore investors. Each share could be sold at about
P25 to P30.
The
company remains bullish on the local bourse despite the
volatility of the country’s economy to raise funds to
expand its farming division and for more brand
acquisitions.
ANI
supplies 70 percent of SM Supermarket and SM Hypermarts’
fresh fruits and vegetable requirement under the SM
Bonus brand, through contract-growing arrangements and
from its own output.
Last
month the company officially acquired 51 percent of
Nutrilicious. Before the buyout, ANI supplies the mango
puree requirement of Nutrilicious for its mango-juice
production.
Nutrilicious is a supplier of institutional clients like
Philippine Airlines, Chowking, Jollibee, McDonald’s and
Burger Machine.
Tiu said
fresh capital would allow the firm to increase its farm
holdings so that 50 percent of its fresh produce would
come from its own farms.
The
company also plans to further branch out to the region
starting next year by forging alliances or partnerships
with processing companies in Southeast Asia.
ANI’s
top export products include fresh carabao mangoes, mango
nectar, mango puree, buco juice in can, coconut gel (nata
de coco), coconut cream, coconut milk and tamarind juice
in can.
The
company’s biggest market includes China, Hong Kong, the
US, Canada, Australia and Europe. Starting this year,
ANI began exporting to
Singapore
and the Middle East. |
