By Karen Lema
Reuters and Philippine Daily Inquirer
A Philippine company that took off selling hair spray in the 1980s and is named after that decade's romantic comedy "Splash" aims to take its fortunes a step further by listing on the stock market next year.
Splash Corporation, the country's largest Filipino-owned personal care and cosmetics company, began as a P12,000-backyard business over two decades ago before growing into a multi-billion peso firm competing with the likes of Unilever and Procter & Gamble Co.
Rolando Hortaleza, chairman and chief executive officer of Splash, started the business in 1985, selling nail polish remover, cuticle remover and solvents in recycled cough syrup bottles in a lower-middle class neighborhood in Manila.
Now, his company is set to become the first Filipino personal care firm to list on the stock exchange, and is targeting its market debut for January 2008.
Hortaleza said Splash, the leading Filipino brand in skin care products, hoped to raise P2.0-2.5 billion ($43-53 million) by selling 25-30 percent of the firm in the listing, which would value the entire company at around P7.0-10.0 billion.
"It is our pride to be listed," Hortaleza said.
Proceeds from the initial public offering will be used to expand its personal care business and its presence in North America and Europe by selling health and wellness products such as flavored virgin coconut oil, he said, adding that the company would also be on the lookout for acquisitions.
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