- Listed investment company spends $41m for first food-service business
- Street food vendors wearing protective masks serve customers in Manila on Aug. 10.
CEBU, Philippines — Philippine-listed investment holding company Macay Holdings Inc. has acquired Artemisplus Express, operator of the canteen concessionaire Kitchen City, for 2 billion pesos ($41 million) in an all-cash deal, according to a disclosure.
Macay is the parent company of ARC Refreshments that is engaged in the bottling, distribution, marketing and sales of RC Cola and other popular carbonated drinks in the Philippines.
As part of the deal, Macay will acquire 100% voting and controlling interest in Artemisplus.
Operating under the trade name Kitchen City, Artemisplus services clients mainly from business process outsourcing, corporate, manufacturing and hospital segments through canteen concessions. It also provides catering services and has recently ventured into the sale of packed and frozen meals.
With a workforce of 1,300, the company said it serves over 100,000 meals per day.
The acquisition of Kitchen City will be Macay’s first foray into the food-service business as it seeks to expand its business portfolio to other consumer products and services in the Philippines and other Asian countries.
The company said it will expand Kitchen City from the current 90 outlets in Metro Manila and capitalize on potential synergies with ARC Refreshments Corporation, (bottler of RC Cola, Juicy Lemon, Fruit Soda Orange, Seetrus, Arcy’s Rootbeer and Rite ‘n Lite) and the rest of the Yao Group of Companies.
Macay is the investment holding company of Yao Group of Companies, which is led by businessman Alfredo Yao. It reported net income after tax of 130 million pesos in the second quarter of the year on gross revenue of 2.6 billion pesos.
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