Fruitas IPO — soon!
Alberto Liberato in News and Updates
Sep 25, 2019 • 2 min Read
If a franchise business is an assured road to entrepreneurial success, then Fruitas Holdings Inc. is a pioneer in this direction.
The company whose list of brands can be found in various malls in the country is now in the midst of a P1.2 billion initial public offering (IPO). The company said it is looking to sell to investors as much 602 million of its shares at an offer price of up to P1.99 per share.
“The proceeds will be used to fund our store network expansion across the Philippines and expand our commissary to serve more customers. New capital will also be used towards acquisition of foodservice businesses and introduction of new concepts which have a strategic fit with our operations.” said Lester Yu, Fruitas president.
If the company’s public sale of shares, handled by investment banks BDO Capital and Investment Corp. and First Metro Investment Corp., gets regulatory approval, it will be held between November 18–22 and have the company’s shares listed with the Philippine Stock Exchange before the end of the year.
Prior to its IPO plans, a method by which business taps into capital provided by the general public by selling shares and listing with a stock exchange, the company funds its business expansion by selling franchise of its various brands to interested parties that wishes to start a venture in the fruit juice business.
Fruitas currently has over 20 brands in its portfolio, including household names like Fruitas Fresh From Babot’s Farm, Buko Loco, Juice Avenue, Buko Ni Fruitas, Johnn Lemon, Black Pearl, and food parks like Uno Cinquenta in Maginhawa and Le Village The Lifestyle Park in E. Rodriguez Sr. St., both situated in Quezon City. In 2015, Fruitas also acquired Negril Trading, the company housing De Original Jamaican Pattie Shop and Juice Bar. It also diversified to lechon through the acquisition of Sabroso Lechon last year.
Currently a Fruitas franchise could fetch between P300,000 to P1.5 million depending on type of the business, covering a contract term of one year. The company commits to provide franchisees assistance in procuring the necessary business permits to run the business, required equipment, supplies good for two to three days, marketing materials, and training of staff among others.
This approach led the company to grow its presence to 949 stores as of end-June this year, from 400 stores in end-2016, and from its initial store in 2002.
In 2018, Fruitas reported P1.58 billion in consolidated revenue, a 37 percent increase from its P1.15 billion revenue in 2017, driven by a strong performance of its stores. It generated profits of P100.3 million in 2018 and P172.9 million in 2017, respectively.
