Biz Buzz: What’s in a name

It wasn’t big news when it was announced last June, but maybe it should have been. We’re talking about the resignation of businessman Jacques Dupasquier as chair and president of several firms that comprised The Net Group (TNG) of companies, one of the biggest landlords of office space in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.

Dupasquier, of course, cofounded The Net Group in 1999 with the firm’s eventual CEO,

Charlie Rufino. Together, they built The Net Group’s portfolio of what it now seven “Triple A” buildings—net Park, Net Lima, Net Plaza, Net Quad, Net Cube, Net Square and Net One Centre—into one of the best work locations in the city, with some of the best rental yields.

The SM group bought into The Net Group in 2013 (that, in itself, is an interesting separate story), by acquiring the stake of another partner, and now owns 95 percent of the company, all the while retaining Messrs. Dupasquier and Rufino to help run the company they built.

“Dupasquier had given up his ownership of the physical assets to SM Investments Corp. over time but was still given a seat on the board of directors,” the resignation press statement issued by his office read. “However, as he sits on the board while serving as chair and major stockholder of the TNG Asset Management Co., and also the brand’s sole owner, he has started to feel a conflict of interest. He believes that the companies’ current vision and values are no longer aligned with his, and that of the brand he built.”

Cryptic, to say the least. Biz Buzz learned that, over time, the relationship between the company’s new majority owners and Dupasquier began to sour. It came to a head a few months ago when everyone learned—to everyone’s surprise—that Dupasquier had registered the company’s brand and trademark “The Net Group” as his own. As in, his personal property. Because of this, the company name didn’t belong to the company. It was his own. (Which explains the unusual reference in the press release announcing his resignation last June that he was the “brand’s sole owner.”)

According to a source familiar with the issue, Dupasquier had demanded P100 million in personal compensation for the firm to continue using “his” brand, “The Net Group.” Well, that didn’t sit well with the Sys, apparently. But Rufino offered to mediate ... and tried ... and gave up, after the demand for compensation was said to have escalated to P1 billion.

While the Sys are the country’s richest family, there’s no way they’ll part with a billion pesos just because someone else registered as personal property the name of the company that they bought for a small fortune.

So what’s the outcome? Biz Buzz learned that the Sys simply decided to change the company’s name to one that will still be able to leverage off the old brand name. “Same same, but different,” so to speak. So expect The Net Group to soon be renamed ... The Neo Group. No kidding. Problem solved. And it won’t cost the Sys a billion pesos. —DAXIM L. LUCAS

All out support

This early, a lot of stakeholders are already excited at the prospect of the Philippines having a world-class aviation facility in the form of San Miguel Corp.’s upcoming New Manila International Airport that will rise in Bulakan, Bulacan.

For travelers, the idea of eliminating airport congestion—which causes hours of delays and wasted time, whether waiting in the terminal or waiting in the air for a landing slot—can’t come soon enough.

But there’s another group of stakeholders who are equally excited about the $15-billion infrastructure project, if not more so.

We’re talking about the heads of Bulacan’s local government units whom San Miguel president Ramon Ang recently hosted at the company’s headquarters in Ortigas Center to give them a glimpse of what their community’s future will look like.

Present at the meeting were Bulacan Gov. Daniel Fernando,

Vice Governor Wilhelmino Syalvarado, Malolos Mayor

Gilbert Gatchalian, Susan Ople of the Blas F. Ople Center, Marilao Vice Mayor Henry Lutao,

Santa Maria Mayor Russel Pleyto, Bocaue Mayor Joni Villanueva Tugano, Guguinto Mayor Ambrosio Cruz Jr., Obando Mayor Edwin Santos, Balagtas Mayor Eladio Gonzales Jr., Bulakan Mayor Vergel Meneses and Marilao Councilor Arnold Papa.

And to a man, all the officials expressed their full support for the project, with most saying it would be a major boost to their economy, and a generator of jobs and livelihood for its people. We’re talking about a million jobs both during the construction phase and during the operations stage, and most of the workers are expected to come from Bulacan and the surrounding areas.

Of course, they all had their particular concerns, too, like the displacement of local residents, which the San Miguel chief committed to address through housing projects and livelihood assistance schemes.

Another big concern for the Bulacan chieftains was the perennial flooding not only in the vicinity of the airport property, but throughout the rest of the province. “No problem,” Ang said with his characteristic “can do” stance. “We will solve Bulacan’s flooding problem with a new drainage project.”

To achieve their common goal, however, Ang had one request: He asked the LGU (local government unit) officials to help him with the project—the single-biggest infrastructure project in Philippine history, whether public or private—so that he could help them, in return, with what their communities needed.

And to a man, everyone agreed. With the leadership of Bulacan province now secured, focus now shifts to winning over the project’s critics ... many of whom are neither stakeholders or local residents, by the way. Go figure. —DAXIM L. LUCAS

‘Allbuilders’

Villar family-led home improvement retailer Allhome Corp., the newest stock market entrant, is introducing a new store format—one that offers one-stop shop solution for a full range of construction-related products. Catering to the builders and construction segment, this new format called “Allbuilders” offers a more extensive selection of hardware, tiles and sanitary wares, and construction materials.

The group feels that its longstanding relationship with builders and contractors for the last 43 years has given it “deep knowledge” of the needs of this segment. It aims to open six Allbuilders stores in the second half of this

year, primarily located outside Metro Manila. Allhome plans to expand its store network to 45 stores by the end of this year and further to 70 stores by 2020, from 25 stores at end-june this year. This will double its net selling area to 460,188 square meters by end-2020, or more than double the 196,327-sqm footprint at end-june.

Allhome also plans to expand its suite of in-house product offerings. This segment contributed only 4.7 percent of revenues in 2018 but the group aims to grow its share to 10-20 percent by 2020 and beyond, giving it higher gross profit margin of between 15 and 25 percent compared to third party brands.

Allhome has launched 18 in-house brands across various product categories so far, including: Rossio and Lustro for tiles, Brauhn and Teuer for sanitary products, Markel for hardware, and Kreativ, Urban Reluxur and Liveart for furniture. —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA

Going legit

Halfway through its test run, on-demand motorbike taxi company Angkas is feeling good about its prospects in becoming a truly legitimate transport provider with a national footprint.

Angkas—the motorbike version of the likes of Uber and Grab—is working hard to comply with regulations under the six-month pilot period, which ends on December this year, chief transport advocate

George Royeca said.

This is moving in parallel with proposed legislation that aims to legalize motorbike taxis in the country.

Royeca said Angkas was also focusing on a variety of training aspects, from safety all the way to customer service and addressing sexual harassment.

Getting to its current stage of acceptance was a tough road for the three-year-old company. Some might argue that Angkas is still here out of sheer will.

Angkas defiantly continued to operate even as the Department of Transportation sought to assert transport laws that prohibited motorbikes being used as public utility vehicles.

Further support, no doubt, came from commuters frustrated by traffic jams, costly ride sharing operators and unreliable mass transit options.

For now, the company is capped at 27,000 bike-partners but that can grow should regulations turn favorable and its tracks cover more ground. Royeca said they wanted to reach other congested cities outside Metro Manila and Cebu.

While the exact size of the market is unclear, Royeca offered some indication of its scale. He estimated that the app had already been downloaded over a million times. Impressive.