Century Pacific sells 118M shares of cannery unit for P2.6B

Century Pacific Group Inc. (CPGI) has sold 118 million shares of cannery unit Century Pacific Food Inc. (CNPF) for P2.6 billion in a an overnight placement.

The shares went for P22 apiece, the company said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) on Friday.

"The transaction was conducted to broaden CNPF’s shareholder base and is in response to demand from global institutional investors for additional shares and improved trading liquidity," CPGI said.

The 118 million shares represent approximately 5 percent of CNPF's total issued and outstanding shares, effectively increasing its public free float from 16 percent to 21 percent.

The share sale was done via an overnight placement through the PSE with CPGI as the sole selling shareholder.

The placement price of P22 apiece is equivalent to a 4 percent discount from CNPF's 10-day weighted average price of P22.87 per share and a 1 percent discount from its 30-day weighted average price of P22.28.

"CNPF shares sold during the placement were all owned by CPGI and will not dilute the shareholdings of CNPF’s existing public investors as of the date of the placement," the company noted.

CPGI will remain as the largest shareholder of CNPF with a 69 percent stake in the company, it added.

CLSA Limited and Deutsche Bank AG were hired as the placing agents for the transaction.

CNPF is a food cannery that develops, markets, and distributes processed fish, meat, dairy, and coconut products under its own brands, as well as the brands of others. — Ted Cordero/VDS, GMA News