Fruitas raises P200-M through sale of corporate notes

Fruitas [FRUIT 0.80, up 3.9%; 314% avgVol] [link] disclosed that it sold P200 million worth of corporate notes in a private placement to banks and institutional investors. FRUIT said the response to the sale was “warm”, that it sold the “maximum amount set by the Company,” and that the sale “further diversifies” FRUIT’s financing sources.  

MB bottom-line: Rumors have been swirling recently that FRUIT’s owner, Lester Yu, is on the cusp of acquiring a bakeshop brand under the banner of FRUIT’s subsidiary, Balai Ni Fruitas [BALAI 0.42 unch; 25% avgVol] [link]. The move is supposedly meant to kickstart BALAI’s expansion into the cake business, with BALAI serving cake products to the “affordable” segment and the acquired brand serving the “premium” segment of the cake market. I’m not saying that this funding is in any way related to that potential acquisition. I just like the kinetic energy of this group. To borrow a phrase from my parents, there are no flies on Mr. Yu. He moves too quickly and too often. FRUIT is trading at P0.80/share, which is down 52% from its IPO price and basically trading at an all-time low, so shareholders are probably hoping that all of this activity will have a big long-term payoff. 

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