Seven years after helping a local franchisee to buy out the whole pizza chain Shakey’s in 2016, Singapore sovereign fund GIC is now out of the business.
Shakey’s Pizza Asia Ventures Inc., said GIC’s stake in the company through unit Arran Investment Pte. Ltd. has been acquired by mother company Century Pacific Group Inc., (CPG) in partnership with shareholder JE Holdings Inc. for P2.69 billion.
CPG and JE Holdings are the private holdings companies of the Po and Gokongwei families, respectively.
GIC held 283 million shares, representing a 16.8 percent of Shakey’s. CPG purchased 185 million shares and now has 62 percent of the company.
JE Holdings bought 98 million shares, increasing its stake to 14.9 percent from the previous 9.05 percent. JE Holdings entered Shakey’s as a strategic investor in 2021, infusing P1.25 billion in capital to support organic and inorganic opportunities.
Shares were purchased at P9.50 apiece.
The transaction capped GIC’s involvement in Shakey’s when in mid-2016, prior to Shakey’s initial public offering (IPO), partnered with CPG to acquire Shakey’s, owning 37.2 percent.
It sold a part of its holdings during the Shakey’s IPO in December 2016.
“GIC had been with Shakey’s prior to our IPO in 2016. As strategic investors, they have been big supporters and have added value to the company. Thus, in turn, I am pleased that the company was able to generate gains for them. I am also grateful for the opportunity to increase our investments in Shakey’s as we are firm believers and are excited by our future prospects. We are also grateful to the Gokongwei family for their belief in our company and the additional investment,” said Chris Po, Shakey’s chairman.
Shakey’s currently has close to 2,000 stores and outlets globally. It recently upgraded its outlook for the year to better than 30 percent year-on-year growth for both top and bottomline. – Ruelle Castro
