Going public

After 51 years, Concepcion Industrial Corp. goes public.

People have asked me why are we taking our family company public. From my experience in RFM corporation, a company we took public in the early’ 90s, it has been a long journey and we have seen the market value go as low as P800 million during the years and today, it now has a value above P16 billion. This is just an unrealized value, so owners do not actually benefit from this unless they sell, which our family will never do.

Being a public company further strengthens the corporate governance, as regular reports must be submitted to both SEC and PSE. Appointing independent directors is a requirement and these directors actually provide the balanced views in many discussions, and they would also independently head the different critical committees in the Board such as the audit and compensation committees, among others.  But of course, the company’s performance will in the end determine share value over time. Fund managers and investors must trust in the management of the company specially the CEO, COO and CFO. While estate planning is one motivation to go public, I put more importance to governance and pressure to perform, as the public forces a family company to professionalize. 

As I write this column our stock price is slightly lower than the IPO price, but as I have advised my cousin Jojo Concepcion, CIC CEO,  the valuation is not determined just on the first day.  This is a new chapter in the life of Concepcion Industries, sharing its fortune with its new investors. This assures the 3rd and 4th generation of the longevity of the company and if one is no longer interested to keep his or her shares, those can be sold in the market, preventing prolonged family fights in the future.

My grandfather Jose Concepcion Sr., and his son and my uncle Raul, have done an amazing job in building the biggest air-conditioning and refrigeration company in the Philippines.  It is now in the hands of our generation, the 3rd generation, where I sit as one of the directors. Each of the three Concepcion families are represented with its management headed by Raul Joseph Concepcion, my cousin and vice chair Renna Hechanova Angeles and Raul Anthony Concepcion, who also runs the refrigerator side of the business. 

One thing for sure today, the Concepcion family sets the record with the most number of photographs taken and the most number of Concepcions attending the event from the first generation to the fourth generation.

Congratulations to the Concepcion Industrial Corporation family and to all its new investors.

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The past week until early this week has been a full week of learnings and inspiration.  The activities have all been part of the country’s celebration of the Global Entrepreneurship Week which is a celebration of entrepreneurship activities in over 100 countries.  In the Philippines, Go Negosyo has partnered with the British Embassy led by Ambassador Asif Ahmad and Trevor Lewis .

Another grand event was held in partnership with the PLDT SME Nation – the MVP Bossing Awards 2013. Seven Bossing awardees were named and honored for their outstanding and inspiring leadership and embodiment of innovation and technology in their businesses. Zest-O Corp. president Alfredo Yao was hailed as the2013 MVP Grand Bossing. His was a success story of rags to riches. Poverty did not hinder him to succeed and enrich other people’s lives by providing them decent employment.

Other Bossing awardees were Catherine Dizon – Posas of Dizon Farms who grew up knowing how to grow and sell their fresh produce that eventually turned into a huge company. They planted several types of citrus products and became very successful with pomelos. The fruits also grows and exports Cavendish bananas to countries in Asia.

Dra. Mary Chan who founded Ideal Vision Center Inc. has a vision of helping people with their eyesight and other eye concerns. She and her husband established Ideal Vision not only to generate income, but also to help the community as well.

The accidental entrepreneur, as he calls himself, Michael Deakin of Lifeline Ambulance Rescue Inc. measures his team’s success by the number of people that they have rescued and keeps a record of it in a book. They have saved more than 5,000 lives in 17 years and is worthy to be called as the 911 of the Philippines. Their quick response and action is mainly because of training and innovation in the tools that they use.

 Spirit of innovation, excellence, and achievement are just some of the values that Genevieve Ledesma – Tan of Southville International School and Colleges uphold and teach at her institution. Her desire to have a very good education since she was a child materialized and is now honing the youth after she founded Southville.

Father and son tandem Felix and Prudencio Garcia started small by selling tocino and chicharon as a backyard business which later became a hit, making way for the establishment of Mekeni Food Corp. They were able to turn adversity into opportunity for their product and company to excel as a brand.

Failure, for Glenn Yu of Seaoil Philippines, is just an event and it should not define you or your business. His vision is for a better economy, the youth achieving their dreams, and a healthy environment. Seaoil started selling and promoting E10 in 2005 and It also preceded the whole industry in blending diesel with coco-methyl ester (CME).

These people are the business Bossings of 2013. They defined the way to manage their business, uplift the lives of their employees, and nurture the community by giving back in their own little ways.