Puregold acquires Parco Supermarket

MANILA, Philippines - Listed supermarket chain operator Puregold Price Club Inc. has added Parco Supermarket to its growing retail portfolio.

In a disclosure to be Philippine Stock Exchange, Puregold said the acquisition will further expand its foothold in the C and D market segment.

“Puregold Price Club Inc., through the resolution issued by its Executive Committee on May 25, acquired 519,111 shares or the whole outstanding capital stock of Gant Group of Companies Inc.,” the company said.

Gant Group is the owner and operator of 19 branches of Parco Supermarket, which includes Pasig, Quezon City, Caloocan, Taytay in Rizal province and Meycauayan in Bulacan.

The shares were purchased from the Ong family, particularly from Dolores Ong, Patrick Richard Ong, Katrina Cindy Ong, Genevieve Mae Ong and Margaret Brigitte Ong. Puregold did not disclose the purchase price.

“Upon takeover, the stores will use the Parco brand,” Aida B. de Guzman, vice-president for marketing and business development of Puregold, said in a text message.

“With the Parco acquisition, our market coverage will expand, as Parco was able to establish loyal customer base of both C and D customers and resellers in the areas where they operate over the 29 years that they have been operating,” De Guzman said.

In April, Puregold completed its acquisition of upscale S&R Membership Shopping Club through a P16.5-billion share swap.

“Lead store brand will still be Puregold,” De Guzman pointed out.

Puregold, the second largest retailer in the country, issued 766.41 million shares to S&R owner Kareila Management Corp. at P21.50 each or 450 shares for every Kareila share.

The retail giants earlier said Puregold and all six branches of S&R will account for a combined market share of about 20 percent of modern retail trade in the Philippines.

The consolidation of Chinese-Filipino businessman Lucio Co’s retailing businesses will also expand Puregold’s network outside Metro Manila and Luzon.

Puregold had a total branch network of 101 as of end-March, comprising 62 hypermarkets, 28 supermarkets (Puregold Jr.) and 11 discounters (Puregold Extra).

Puregold aims to double its store network by 2015 as it continues its expansion and seize new markets in the Visayas and Mindanao. It plans to put up 25 new stores this year.

The company’s profit grew 24.5 percent to P469 million in the first quarter as net sales jumped 30.3 percent to P10.74 billion due to higher turnover as a result of new store openings in the last three quarters of 2011.