Singapore firm sells stake in Philippine pizza business

GIC held a 16.8% interest in the pizza business.

Philippine-based firms Century Pacific Group, Inc. (CPG) and JE Holdings (JE), have bought out Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC’s stake in Shakey’s Pizza Asia Ventures, Inc. through affiliate Arran Investment Pte Ltd.

The purchase was made via private placement. How much the shares were bought was not disclosed.

GIC held 283 million shares, representing a 16.8% stake in the Company. CPG purchased 185 million shares, bumping up its holdings to 62%. Meanwhile, JE Holdings took up 98 million shares, laddering up to a 14.9% stake in PIZZA. Shares were purchased at Php 9.50 apiece. 

CPG and JE are the private holdings companies of the Po and Gokongwei families. One of the companies CPG owns is Century Pacific Food Inc., one of the largest canned food companies in the Philippines whilst JE holds a stake in insurance firm Maxicare.

To date, Shakey’s has close to 2,000 stores and outlets globally. In its previous earnings release, the group’s systemwide sales for the first six months of the year increased by 51% year-on-year, whilst net income almost doubled with 96% growth year-on-year. The group recently upgraded its outlook for the year to better than 30% year-on-year growth for both top and bottom lines.