LISTED holding firm Del Monte Pacific Ltd. (DMPL) said the planned initial public offering (IPO) of its United States unit is expected to finish within its fiscal year.
DMPL said in the minutes of its Aug. 29 annual general meeting disclosed to the stock market on Monday that the target completion of the Del Monte Foods, Inc. (DMFI) IPO is during the company’s fiscal year 2024, which started in May this year.
“DMFI has submitted the registration statement to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The time needed depends on the regulatory process prescribed and it is at US SEC’s discretion to approve the IPO. This process may take four to six months. Secondly, the prevailing market conditions would also affect the decision whether to proceed with the IPO,” DMPL said.
“The last IPOs in the US took between 12 to 18 months,” it added.
In April, DMPL disclosed that Del Monte Foods Holdings Ltd. (DMFHL) had sought the approval of the US SEC for the IPO. DMFHL is the parent of DMFI, which manages DMPL’s food production and distribution in the US.
The company said that DMFHL will “confidentially” submit a draft registration statement on Form F-1 to the US SEC. Form F-1 is used for the registration of foreign private companies that intend to sell securities in a registered offering in the US for the first time.
Meanwhile, DMPL said the IPO of its Philippine unit, Del Monte Philippines, Inc. (DMPI), might take two to three years.
DMPI was set to have its IPO in June 2018 but the listing did not push through. The plan was revived in 2020 but was shelved as a result of the pandemic.
For the first quarter of its fiscal year, DMPL trimmed its net loss to $13.1 million from the $30.5 million net loss a year ago. The company’s sales rose by 13% to $516.7 million led by stronger sales in the US and of fresh pineapple.
On Monday, shares of DMPL at the local bourse rose five centavos or 0.67% to finish at P7.55 per share. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave
