Shares in Century Pacific Food sold for around P2.8B

CENTURY PACIFIC FOOD, INC. said its majority shareholder had approved the sale of shares equivalent to a 3% stake in the listed food products maker via a private placement.

In a regulatory filing on Monday, the company said the shares were sold at a price of P26.60 apiece for a total of about P2.8 billion. The sale proceeds will be settled three trading days after the crossing of the shares.

Century Pacific Food said the shares to be sold in the secondary block trade are all owned by Century Pacific Group, Inc. (CPG), and will not dilute the shareholdings of existing public investors.

“We are seeing opportunities at the holding company level and will be deploying proceeds across various investments,” said CPG Chairman Christopher T. Po.

Century Pacific Food said the transaction is expected to increase its public float to 34% from 31%, which could improve “trading liquidity and allow for greater investor participation in the stock.”

Mr. Po said that after the transaction, CPG will continue to hold a majority stake in Century Pacific Food with 66% and that any sale of shares is not expected “for the foreseeable future.”

Century Pacific Food said the transaction was oversubscribed, “anchored by high-quality long-only international and domestic institutional investors.” It added that the 114 million shares sold were priced “at a tight discount” of 5.2% to their last closing price.

On Monday, shares in the company fell by 3.66% or P0.95 to close at P25 each.