Tan buys P1 billion Emperador shares from market in 3 days

MANILA, Philippines — The Andresons Group Inc. of tycoon Andrew Tan continues to shop from the market shares of listed global brandy and whisky conglomerate Emperador Inc., bringing its three-day total purchase to nearly P1 billion.

In a stock exchange filing yesterday, Emperador said affiliate The Andresons Group bought from the open market on May 21 a total of 25 million common shares of the company at P13.30 apiece.

The transaction follows two separate purchases on May 19 and May 20 of 50 million shares at P13.32 apiece.

The three-day transactions amounting to a combined P998.5 million bring The Andresons Group’s shares to a total of 75 million, which is equivalent to 0.48 percent of Emperador’s outstanding shares.

The Andresons Group is chaired by Tan, who also chairs Emperador.

“This 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,” China Bank Capital Corp. managing director Juan Paolo Colet said.

Emperador is ramping up its global expansion by growing its vineyard portfolio in Spain with an additional 470 hectares of farmland expanding its presence in Mexico and doubling its distillery footprint in Scotland.

Its vineyard farmland expansion in Spain is expected to significantly boost its grape farming capacity, which currently stands at about 17 million kilos per annum.

In the UK, Emperador’s expansion of The Dalmore distillery in Alness, Scotland, continues and is seen to double the brand’s production capacity, while also providing a new visitor experience.

The company is expanding its whisky maturation complex in its Invergordon distillery, doubling its footprint from 45.4 to 92 hectares.

Meanwhile, Emperador’s recent acquisition through subsidiary Casa Pedro Domecq has deepened the company’s foothold in Mexico’s liquor space.

The company sees its newly acquired mezcal brands Los Danzantes and Alipus available in the Philippines this year.

In the first quarter, Emperador delivered a seven-percent year-on-year growth in net income to P1.85 billion, supported by cost efficiencies.