By taking up shares of pizza chain Shakey’s, the Gokongwei group of companies is clearly positioning itself to entering a new business sector, banking on the franchise’ continuing popularity.
The Gokongwei family is taking a chance on the full-service restaurant business by investing P1.25 billion in the country’s leading pizza parlor chain Shakey’s Pizza Asia Ventures Inc.
Through private investment firm JE Holdings, the Gokongwei family is buying Shakey’s shares for P8.20 per share, bringing in fresh capital in exchange for a 9% ownership of the company.
This makes the Gokongwei family a strategic partner in the Po family’s Century Pacific Group and the sovereign wealth fund of Singapore GIC in the enterprise.
Shares of Shakey’s advanced by 6.3 percent to close at P7.93 a piece at the local stock market on Wednesday as investors welcomed the Gokongwei group at a time when the food retailing business suffered a downturn amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
This coming July, Shakey’s is set to host a stockholders meeting where JE Holdings chair and president Lance Gokongwei would be up for election to the nine-seat board of directors, as revealed by the company to the Philippine Stock Exchange.
According to Gokongwei, he has always been a fan of Shakey’s and looks forward to furthering the company’s growth and restart expansion plans after the reopening of the country’s economy.
“I strongly believe in the long-term prospects of the food service industry, against a backdrop of rising Filipino incomes, and I have confidence that Shakey’s will continue to be a leader in this space.”
Meanwhile, Shakey’s chair Christopher Po believes Gokongwei would bring with him a “variety of perspectives” into the business due to his diverse background in the field.
The chairman believes having Gokongwei by his side would strengthen the company’s financial position. He adds that the new capital would provide flexibility at such an unpredictable time.
After strengthening its operations amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Shakey’s posted a net profit of P29 million in the first quarter of 2021. Same time last year, the company’s profit dipped by 75 percent.
Currently, the pizza chain has 242 branches around the country, and is currently valued by the stock market at P11.42 billion.
The brand, which originated in the United States, continues to be popular among Filipinos due to its unique pizza recipes as well as its positioning as a restaurant “for family and friends.” (MO)
Tags: #GokongweiGroup, #Shakeys, #fastfood, #LanceGokongwei