Moving on: Tiu’s AgriNurture to conduct stock rights offering

AGRINURTURE, Inc. is ready to put the past behind with a plan to raise nearly P300 million through a stock rights offer, laying the groundwork for the entry of new foreign investors keen on taking advantage of the growth in the agricultural sector.

In a disclosure to the stock exchange on Monday, the company owned by Antonio L. Tiu said its board of directors authorized the conduct of a stock rights offer to eligible investors, who are entitled to one share for every 2.5 shares held.

The company intends to offer 283.76 million shares to eligible investors at a price equivalent to the stock’s par value of P1 apiece. The board has yet to determine the record date for the rights offer.

“It is a perk for shareholders with the stock trading at P13. They can subscribe at P1 so basically it is a gain for shareholders including the minority,” Mr. Tiu, who is also the company’s chairman, president and chief executive officer, said in a phone interview.

Shares in AgriNurture added 12 centavos or 0.93% to close at P13 apiece on Monday.

The principal shareholders pledged to subscribe not just to their entitlement, but also to the unsubscribed shares after the mandatory rounds of the stock rights offer.

“The primary objective of the stock rights offer is to subscribe to the increase in authorized capital stock of the company,” Mr. Tiu said, referring to the approval of the board and its shareholders in 2014 to hike the firm’s authorized capital stock to P2 billion from P1 billion.

“There has been very aggressive grown in agriculture sector. There has been lots of ongoing discussions so this is a preparation for the entry of foreign investors,” Mr. Tiu said.

Beefing up the company’s capital has taken a backseat after Mr. Tiu was tagged in an investigation launched by the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee in 2015 on the ownership of his 350-hectare estate in Rosario, Batangas. The AgriNurture executive had denied allegations that the property is owned by then Vice-President Jejomar C. Binay.

“We have to move on. Damage has been made, but life goes on. We are happy we have survived,” Mr. Tiu said.

Proceeds from the rights issue will fund additional working capital to support the growth and strategic initiatives of the company’s businesses, such as export, local distribution, and retail and franchising.

AgriNurture is in the business of farming, selling fresh fruits and vegetables, and producing canned, frozen and dried fruits and vegetables. The company ventured into the importation and trading of rice in the first quarter of 2015.

AgriNurture doubled its net profit to P14.50 million in the first nine months of 2017 as sales grew by half on the strength of its local distribution business. —