Tycoon Andrew Tan has resumed buying shares of Emperador Inc. from the stock market, this time spending ₱160 million for 10 million common shares.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), Emperador said Tan’s privately held The Andresons Group Inc. bought the 10 million shares last June 20, 2025, to bring the firm’s direct stake in Emperador to 135 million shares, equivalent to 0.86 percent of the company, at a total cost of ₱1.83 billion.

This brings down the company’s public float to just 20.26 percent, close to the 20-percent minimum public float requirement for its inclusion in the PSE’s benchmark index.

Last May, The Andresons Group acquired a total of 125 million Emperador shares, equivalent to an eight-percent stake from the market, for ₱1.67 billion, in a series of transactions.

If Tan continues to buy more Emperador shares, taking out 110 million more Emperador shares from the market will pull down its public float to 19.998 percent and disqualify it for inclusion in the PSEi’s basket of 30 stocks.

Chinabank Capital Corp. Managing Director Juan Paolo Colet said earlier that the purchase of more Emperador shares “signifies Andrew Tan’s strong conviction in the business prospects of Emperador and perhaps a view that there is potentially significant upside from his acquisition price.”

While its whisky business currently faces challenges resulting in lower sales and earnings, global liquor conglomerate Emperador continues to expand its facilities as it is optimistic of a turnaround and looks forward to a growing market over the medium to long term.

“We are seeing a slowdown in the whisky business across the world: in North America, in China, and even in Europe. The market has become very competitive given the situation. We believe, however, that this is cyclical,” said Emperador Chairman and President Winston Co during the firm’s annual stockholders’ meeting.

He added that, “We believe that, eventually, the Scotch whisky business should return to growth. And we are hoping that, by next year, starting 2026, there should be a resurgence and a rebound back to regular consumption.”

Co explained that sales in the Scotch whisky market, particularly for single malt, are doing well and it is the premium, high-end segment that is affected.

“But we believe that consumption should continue and the long-term prospect of the Scotch whisky and the single-malt whisky continue to be attractive over the long-term period,” he noted.

While tariff issues are also creating uncertainties of whisky exports to the United States (US), Co said Emperador is looking at fresh opportunities elsewhere, such as India where whisky taxes have been reduced by 50 percent.

“So we expect a surge in the importation of Scotch whisky into India. While it will not happen immediately, all players are positioning to capitalize on this opportunity and we are working with our distributors in India,” he said.

Co reiterated that Emperador is optimistic over the long-term and “looking at five years from today, we are very excited. We believe that the global business will continue to grow next year…and all global reports indicate that there will be a continuous growth following this year on a global basis.”