THE operator of restaurant chains Gweilo’s Bar and Mario’s Kitchen has renewed its plan to debut on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) as it looks to raise P218 million in fresh capital.
GC Quality Restaurant Group, Inc., formerly called Gweilo Corp., said in a notice published on national dailies yesterday that it looks to register 665.455 million common shares with a par value of P1 each.
Of this, up to 218 million common shares will be offered and sold to the public through an initial public offering (IPO) priced at up to P1 each. The other 447.455 million common shares will not be included in the issuance.
At the same time, the restaurant owner and operator will also be increasing its authorized capital stock to P700 million consisting of 700 million common shares with a par value of P1 apiece. This is double its current authorized capital stock of P350 million.
This marks the fourth time the company has amended its registration statement initially filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in May 2015. At the time, the company had planned to raise up to P95 million from the issuance of 95 million common shares.
The SEC already approved the company’s application in that year, but the IPO did not materialize.
GC Quality Restaurant Group was planning to list its shares on the small, medium, and emerging board of the PSE. The funds raised were intended to finance its expansion plans, including the establishment of more Mario’s Kitchen and Stackers Burger café outlets.
The company also wanted to allocate funds for the implementation of a catering service, the rollout a unified management information system, research and development, as well as for working capital. — Arra B. Francia
