Graveyard company sees big market in the Philippines
Golden Haven Memorial Parks Inc., a Philippine company which operates graveyards and memorial sites in the country, kicked off an initial public offering on June 20 to sell shares worth 778 million pesos ($17 million), marketing the investment by its anticipation of a growing domestic market for “professional death care.”
It is the first IPO since Rodrigo Duterte has been elected president. The firm is controlled by Manuel Villar, a former senator who is a political ally of Duterte. Mark Villar, Manuel’s son, is the incoming public works and highways secretary.
Duterte has caught huge global attention for his campaign to “eliminate” drug dealers, other criminals and even corrupt official through extrajudicial killings. Golden Haven’s offer comes the day after a weekend when Philippine police killed 11 suspected drug dealers resisting arrest during operations in Manila, Laguna, Bulacan, Rizal, Bohol and Cebu.
Bodies of drug suspect have been piling up to more than 40 since Duterte’s May 9 election victory.
However, Golden Haven’s chief financial officer told Bloomberg that the timing of the IPO had “nothing to do” with Duterte’s election win.
“We’ve been planning this for a long time,” he said. “There’s no relation at all with the elections. Demand is strong because the issue size is small and the market is doing really well,” he said.
The company will use the proceeds to fund land acquisition and expansion of existing cemeteries, columbarium facilities and funeral homes, it says in the sale prospectus. Projects are ongoing in Bulacan, Nueva Vizcaya and Pampagna. Golden Haven is targeting a listing on June 29, a day before Duterte takes office.
[caption id="attachment_28417" align="alignleft" width="300"] Golden Haven's cemetery in Las Piñas, one of the six large memorial sites it manages[/caption] Golden Haven Memorial Parks Inc., a Philippine company which operates graveyards and memorial sites in the country, kicked off an initial public offering on June 20 to sell shares worth 778 million pesos ($17 million), marketing the investment by its anticipation of a growing domestic market for "professional death care." It is the first IPO since Rodrigo Duterte has been elected president. The firm is controlled by Manuel Villar, a former senator who is a political ally of Duterte. Mark Villar, Manuel’s...
Golden Haven Memorial Parks Inc., a Philippine company which operates graveyards and memorial sites in the country, kicked off an initial public offering on June 20 to sell shares worth 778 million pesos ($17 million), marketing the investment by its anticipation of a growing domestic market for “professional death care.”
It is the first IPO since Rodrigo Duterte has been elected president. The firm is controlled by Manuel Villar, a former senator who is a political ally of Duterte. Mark Villar, Manuel’s son, is the incoming public works and highways secretary.
Duterte has caught huge global attention for his campaign to “eliminate” drug dealers, other criminals and even corrupt official through extrajudicial killings. Golden Haven’s offer comes the day after a weekend when Philippine police killed 11 suspected drug dealers resisting arrest during operations in Manila, Laguna, Bulacan, Rizal, Bohol and Cebu.
Bodies of drug suspect have been piling up to more than 40 since Duterte’s May 9 election victory.
However, Golden Haven’s chief financial officer told Bloomberg that the timing of the IPO had “nothing to do” with Duterte’s election win.
“We’ve been planning this for a long time,” he said. “There’s no relation at all with the elections. Demand is strong because the issue size is small and the market is doing really well,” he said.
The company will use the proceeds to fund land acquisition and expansion of existing cemeteries, columbarium facilities and funeral homes, it says in the sale prospectus. Projects are ongoing in Bulacan, Nueva Vizcaya and Pampagna. Golden Haven is targeting a listing on June 29, a day before Duterte takes office.
