Through private investment firm Andresons Group, Tan has purchased 75 million Emperador shares at about P13.3–P13.32 per share over three days for a total of P998.5 million.
Stock trading flat
While such moves are typically viewed as a vote of confidence from the owner, Emperador’s shares (EMI), which are dual-listed in Singapore, have been relatively flat.
The stock is currently trading at P13.42, down nearly 2 percent from the previous session and lower by 25.8 percent since the start of 2025. During this period, the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Index shed almost 4 percent.
“EMI is an interesting as a company, but the stock has issues,” said Alfred Benjamin R. Garcia, head of research at AP Securities. “It’s consistently ranked as one of the most illiquid index stocks.”
Eyes on the public float
To address this, firms typically disperse ownership over a wider public investor base.
But Tan’s open market purchases might have the opposite effect, with Emperador coming under tighter control of the billionaire family, which owns conglomerate Alliance Global Group, Megaworld Corp., Newport World Resorts and half of the McDonald’s franchise in the Philippines.
“Their public float was 21.12 percent as of April 15. After all those buybacks, they’re getting dangerously close to the 20 percent threshold,” he said.
The stock exchange requires firms on the index to have a float of at least 20 percent.
Industry challenges
In 2024, Emperador saw revenue drop 6.1 percent to P61.65 billion and net income fall 27.4 percent to P6.32 billion amid rising costs.
Tariffs under the Trump administration also clouds its outlook for the year, especially for its whisky business under Whyte and Mackay Group (WMG).
“If imposed, whilst WMG would work with importers and distributors to minimize disruption, it would have an impact on its financial results in case this is not passed on fully to customers,” Emperador said in its 2024 annual report.
Most cherished business
Tan’s purchase through Andresons, a company that he chairs, is equivalent to an almost 0.5-percent stake in Emperador, the world’s largest brandy maker and owner of global names such as Dalmore Scotch whiskey and Fundador brandy.
Tan, who emigrated to the Philippines from China as a young boy and worked as a part-time tutor to pay for university, started Emperador as a small plant in Manila in 1979.
In a 2020 Tatler Philippines article, he described Emperador as the business he was most proud to establish.
Tan’s current net worth is estimated by Forbes Magazine at $1.6 billion (P90 billion).
Miguel R. Camus has been a reporter covering various domestic business topics since 2009.
