DoubleDragon to shell out P1.28 billion in cash, shares for 35% of MerryMart

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DoubleDragon said that this move 'would complement' its existing ecosystem, helping it reach its goal to score P500 billion in revenues by 2035

MANILA, Philippines – DoubleDragon Corporation has set its eyes on MerryMart Consumer Corporation.

In a filing at the stock exchange on Wednesday, April 16, DoubleDragon said its board of directors already gave the go signal to get 2.66 billion shares or 35% of the MerryMart Group. The acquisition is estimated to cost about P1.28 billion, which DoubleDragon plans through P637.97 million in cash and the other half through its shares, valued at P9.30 apiece.

DoubleDragon said that this move “would complement” its existing ecosystem, helping it reach its goal to score P500 billion in revenues by 2035. The MerryMart Group earns over P7 billion of recurring revenues.

The further expansion into the retail business comes four years after DoubleDragon shifted from being primarily a property company to an investment holding firm.

“As our world pivots to a new economy, my partner and mentor Dr. Tony Tan Caktiong and myself view this as the right time for DoubleDragon to prepare itself for extraordinary opportunities that will present itself along the way as we navigate out of this global pandemic towards the next economic boom cycle,” DoubleDragon chairman Edgar Injap Sia II had said in a statement on November 19, 2021.

MerryMart has various formats of retail and wholesale stores across the country. It also has pharmacy subsidiaries in Quezon in Luzon via Carlos SuperDrug and Cecile’s Pharmacy, a pharmacy chain based in Zamboanga in Mindanao.

DoubleDragon’s investment portfolio currently consists of provincial community malls, office buildings, warehouse complexes, and hotels through its Hotel 101 business.

“Barely just a few years ago, our family partnered with the Sia family as we saw exciting prospects in the Philippine real estate industry. Fast forward to today, DoubleDragon has grown from zero leasable space to 1.024 million square meters of completed GFA (gross floor area) portfolio,” DoubleDragon co-chairman Tony Tan Caktiong had said in 2021.

“In hindsight, that decision has proven right as Double Dragon from a small startup company has transformed into a company with now over P129 billion in assets.” – Rappler.com