The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
By Lito U. Gagni
Local market players, as well as employees of top snack producer Liwayway Marketing Corp., are opening bank accounts in Hong Kong, preparatory to the projected listing of the company’s shares in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
The Hong Kong bank accounts are a prerequisite for those who want to purchase shares of Liwayway Marketing, the owner of the Oishi brand of snack foods that is popular in the Philippines, China, Vietnam, India, Myanmar, Thailand and Indonesia, with combined sales of about $1 billion.
Under Hong Kong rules, a buyer of an initial public offering (IPO) should have a HK bank account for purposes of identification. This is because the shares are ID depositary receipts, unlike in the Philippines, where IPO investors can have their certificates under their respective names.
The expected listing for the Oishi shares is set next year but this early, the interest in the shares of Liwayway Marketing has been perked up by the huge following that Oishi goods have developed from among its clientele.
This is the second time the company, led by its chairman emeritus, Ambassador Carlos Chan, has eyed an IPO. Chan first broached the idea of an IPO three years ago, but shelved it due to market conditions.
But an explosive growth in its revenues, especially from its China operations, has rekindled the company patriarch’s interest and the company has already named a bank for its planned IPO, although due to a non-disclosure agreement, it cannot divulge the name of the investment bank.
Oishi started operations in China in 1993 following the open-door policy of then-Chinese President Deng Xiao Ping. It was able to immediately penetrate the Chinese market, even when the concept of a snack food was still not known in China.
Company sources said Oishi started distributing dividends immediately on its first year and has done so year after year.
Chan, who delegated the company operations to his sons Carlson, Archie and Larry, now oversees other concerns and advocacies of the group, entertaining Chinese visitors to scenic spots in the Philippines, and Filipino visitors to China.
Chan, who was just cited by the House of Representatives for his efforts at bridging China-Philippines relations that are now at its lowest ebb, has been proudly flying the Philippine flag in its China, Vietnam and other plants.
Sources said that is no mistaking the fact that the unassuming Chan proudly “flies” the Philippine flag not just in words, but also in deeds, as even the Oishi television ads and other roadside tarpaulins in China make use of scenic spots in the Philippines and even the choir of Bohol.
That is how the Oishi taipan has carved out a niche in the snack-food market, where it edged out US snack giant Frito-Lay.
Oishi has 14 plants and sales offices in China that include those in Harbin, Hubei, Zhengzhou, Xuzhou, Jiangxi, Xinjiang, Beijing, Chengdu. Filipino engineers lord it over their Chinese counterparts and there are times when one of Chan’s sons goes to Japan and other Asian destinations to conduct research and compare other snack-food items that are sold in these localities.