Food maker Monde Nissin Corp. was looking to bank on the fast-growing alternative meats business following its successful initial public offering (IPO) that saw the company generate more than P48.6 billion in fresh funds.
According to a report by BusinessWorld, Monde Nissin was planning to grow its meat alternatives business through its Quorn Foods brand.
The Quorn business contributed 22 percent of the firm’s net sales of $1.4 billion in 2020.
“We need the CAPEX (capital expenditure) requirement as early as now for our growth in alternative protein, which is poised to grow exponentially. We don’t want to miss the opportunity, we wanted to get the fund ready to develop our capacity,” he was quoted as saying.
While Monde Nissin’s closing price dipped at the end of the trading day to P13.48 from its initial price of P13.50, it was by far Southeast Asia’s largest IPO this year after Thailand’s PTT Oil and Retail Business. The latter generated as much as $1.8 billion raised in its debut.
In an interview with Reuters, Soesanto said that the company still has “a lot of possibilities to raise even more [capital] in the next few years.”
The IPO was covered nearly six times and came ahead of planned listings of several private firms, including the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines, the system operator of the country’s Luzon grid.
In a separate comment, Monde Nissin Chief Strategy Officer David Nicol said that the company “will push very, very hard and invest significantly to grow the top line,” referring to revenues.
“There will be explosive growth,” Nicol said, citing industry studies stating that the protein market will grow multi-fold over the next couple of years.
Monde allocated P8 billion to finance its expansion plans for this year, P9 billion for 2022, and P10 billion for 2023.
For its food and beverage business in the Asia Pacific region, Monde Nissin would finance key projects, including the completion of its facility in Malvar, Batangas, and the production of healthier noodle lines.
The company said was planning to expand its business in the United Kingdom, the United States, and on the global quick-service restaurants’ accounts which include the Philippine market.
Image by Ahmad Ardity from Pixabay
