PH pharma tycoons won't list despite star banker's best efforts

October 4, 2024
11:39PM PHT

Even top investment banker Eduardo Francisco, who has led some of the biggest deals in the country, struggles to work his magic with the elusive billionaires of the pharmaceutical industry.

Despite his efforts, the president of BDO Capital & Investment Corp. said he has yet to convince the Que family of Mercury Drug and the Campos family of United Laboratories Inc. (Unilab) to go public.

“We’ve been courting them for a while, but they’re not so interested in going public,” Francisco told reporters on the sidelines of the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines energy forum on Friday.

“They’ve made so much money. They know their growth, so they don’t need to raise the money,” he added.

Eduardo Francisco 
BDO Capital & Investment President 

Privacy is key 

Mercury Drug is the leading drugstore chain in the country, with over 1,200 locations.

It was established by the Que family as World War II ended in 1945. Today, company president Vivian Que Azcona and her siblings are worth around $1.7 billion or P96 billion.

Unilab, controlled by the Campos family, also traces its roots as a small pharmacy in the post-war era. It is now a top manufacturer of drugs and over-the-counter products, including popular brands such as Biogesic, Neozep and Kremil-S.

According to Forbes, Unilab chair Jocelyn Campos-Hess and her siblings are worth $950 million or P54 billion.

Vivian Que Azcona
Mercury Drug President 

IPO outlook for 2025

Francisco said there were plenty more deals to pursue in the coming year.

He aims to bring as many as 10 firms to public hands for the year, fueled by funding flows to the stock market as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas continues to unwind high interest rates.

This is more than double the 3-4 new listings in 2024.

“There’s real estate, consumer, retail [and] restaurants. The food business is doing well,” Francisco said.

Jocelyn Campos-Hess
Unilab Chair 

New IPO candidates

He said six of the IPO candidates are familiar names and those reviving delayed plans, while four were more recent parties.

Around two or three could list in the first half of 2025. He said these were smaller-sized domestic issues, meaning their value was worth P5 billion or less.

Revisiting plans after rate cuts

Many companies reconsidered IPO plans after the BSP began cutting the key interest rate by 25 basis points, Francisco said.

“I got calls after the rates came down to meet, dust off [IPO] plans,” he said.

While risks persist, including ongoing geopolitical tensions, further rate cuts could encourage more companies to move forward with listing.

“It’s more convincing if we see cumulative cuts of 1.5 percent to 1.75 percent,” he said. 

About the author
Miguel R. Camus
Miguel R. Camus

Miguel R. Camus has been a reporter covering various domestic business topics since 2009.

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