After S&R deal, Puregold buys Parco Supermarkets

MANILA, Philippines – Listed retail firm Puregold Price Club, Inc. is on a roll.

After acquiring a stake in the operator of high-end S&R Membership Shopping for P16.5 billion, Puregold takes another step toward its goal of doubling its its stores in 3 years by aiming to close another deal with the owners of Parco Supermarkets within the month.

In a disclosure to the stock exchange on Monday, May 28, Puregold said it will use internally generated funds for its cash purchase of all the outstanding shares of the Ong family members — Dolores, Patrick Richmond, katrina Cindy, Genevieve Mae, and Margaret Brigitte — in Gant Group of Companies, the selling party in Parco Supermarkets.

With both acquisitions, Puregold’s network will:

• have a total of 131 stores: 106 Puregold Stores, 19 Parco Supermarkets, and 6 S&R membership shopping clubs
• wider geographical footprint: 71 stores in Metro Manila, 22 stores in north of Metro Manila, 37 stores in south of Metro Manila and 1 store in the Visayas

Puregold officials earlier said they plan to double the number of stores by 2015 as it saturates further into the untapped Metro Manila and the Luzon areas and expands into the Visayas and Mindanao. It targets to open 25 stores this 2012 and 2013.

In the first quarter of 2012, the company posted a 24.5% jump in net income to P469 million from P376 million in the same period in 2011. Total net sales increased by 30.3% to P10.74 billion. – Rappler.com