The Keepers Holdings Inc., retailer Lucio Co’s liquor import and distribution business, has successfully listed its P4.5 billion follow on offering shares at the Philippine Stock Exchange with its share price rising 12.7 percent to close at P1.69 apiece.

PSE President Ramon S. Monzon said The Keepers” FOO is the third consecutive capital raising event at the bourse where the allocation for Local Small Investors have been oversubscribed.

The LSI was 3.36 times oversubscribed while the 20 percent tranche for the Trading Participants was likewise oversubscribed by 2.86 times resulting in an oversubscription of 1.93 times for the offering.

“Clearly, local small investors would have found it quite difficult to get shares in this FOO. So, we commend KEEPR for voluntarily allocating 5 percent of its offer shares to LSIs, enabling 3,542 local small investors from Metro Manila, 66 provinces, and 22 countries to participate in this FOO,” said Monzon.

Proceeds from this capital raising activity will be used by the company for strategic acquisitions to grow its business as well as for product and distribution channel expansion.

These initiatives will be instrumental in boosting Keepers’ bottom line and sustaining its profitability over time.

The Keepers offered 3 billion common shares at P1.50 per share.

“We are excited by the opportunity to bring our company to the investing public. Keepers is poised to become the only pure play, imported spirits distribution listed company in the Philippines,” said The Keepers President Jose Paulino Santamarina.

The Keepers consolidated the liquor, wine and specialty beverage distribution businesses of Co. It owns and operates three companies – Montosco Inc., Meritus Prime Distributions Inc. and Premier Wine and Spirits Inc.

The group achieved record consolidated net sales from 2018 to 2019, jumping from P8.58 billion to P10.72 billion or a growth of 25 percent. Consolidated net income recorded stronger growth from just P817 million to P1.22 billion during the same period which translates to a growth of 49 percent.

Growth was tempered by the pandemic in 2020 with consolidated net sales declining to P8.17 billion while consolidated net income declined 3.2 percent to P1.18 billion.

“The Keepers Holdings, Inc. is now the largest distributor of imported spirits in the Philippines holding 74 percent volume market share,” claimed Santamarina.