Philippine liquor company Emperador, the world’s largest brandy maker, launched a secondary listing on the Singapore Stock Exchange on July 14 as it seeks to accelerate international expansion. The company opted for a secondary listing by introduction, joining a number of Asian companies that chose the same mechanism to list in Hong Kong and Singapore earlier this year. Such listings, which do not involve the sale of new shares, tend to be faster and cheaper than traditional stock sales. As such, Emperador did not raise new capital through a secondary listing. The company would rather seek to promote its international…
Philippine liquor company Emperador, the world’s largest brandy maker, launched a secondary listing on the Singapore Stock Exchange on July 14 as it seeks to accelerate international expansion.
The company opted for a secondary listing by introduction, joining a number of Asian companies that chose the same mechanism to list in Hong Kong and Singapore earlier this year.
Such listings, which do not involve the sale of new shares, tend to be faster and cheaper than traditional stock sales.
As such, Emperador did not raise new capital through a secondary listing. The company would rather increase its international presence and visibility by trading its shares in Singapore, with an eye toward boosting sales of whisky and brandy in China and the United States.
Part of Andrew Tan Alliance Global Group
Emperador is part of Philippine business tycoon Andrew Tan’s Alliance Global Group, which also owns the Philippines operations of property developer Megaworld, Resorts World Manila and McDonald’s. Andrew Tan is the founder and chairman of Emperor.
“We wanted to conquer the world of single malt whisky and Spanish brandy,” said Kevin Tan, Emperador director and eldest son of the company’s founder.
He noted that the company does not need to raise capital at this time because it has a strong balance sheet sufficient to fund growth, adding that there are currently no plans to sell new shares. Emperador will maintain its primary listing on the Philippine Stock Exchange.
become an international brand
Analysts believe a secondary listing in Singapore will make the stock more attractive to international investors.
“There could be better appreciation in the international whisky business there,” said April Lee-Tan, chief equity strategist at Philippine brokerage COL Financial.
Emperador was established in 1979 as Andrew Tan’s first venture before his foray into real estate.Over the past decade, the company has grown into the largest liquor manufacturer in the Philippines, with Acquisition of Whyte & MackayIn 2014, the world’s fifth largest Scotch whisky producer and Spain’s Bodegas Fundador, at the time the world’s largest brandy maker, followed the following year.
In addition to the company’s homegrown brand of Emperador brandy, other popular brands include Andy Player Whisky, Smirnoff Mule, Dalmore, Fettercairn, Jura, Tamnavulin, Terry Centenario, Tres Cepas and Harveys.
