The private equity fund (PEF) management company Affirma Capital increased its public purchase amount for duty-free shop operator JTC to double the previous amount, as there were no subscriptions in the public offering in Japan.
According to investment banking (IB) industry sources on the 25th, Affirma Capital's special purpose company (SPC) Juventus Holdings decided to increase the number of JTC public purchase shares from the previous 10,433,500 shares to 20,867,000 shares, amounting to 40.3% of the total issued shares. The public purchase price is set at 4,309 won per share, with a total purchase amount of approximately 90 billion won. The lead underwriter is NH Investment & Securities.
Affirma increased the public purchase amount because there were no subscriptions in Japan. The JTC stock price was above the public purchase price at 6,460 won as of the closing price on the 25th, providing no incentive for small shareholders to participate. Initially, Affirma planned to receive subscriptions equally from Japan and Korea, but as the portion in Japan was not fully subscribed, it was reflected directly in the domestic amount.
This public purchase will take place when Affirma exercises its call option over the 40.32% stake held by JTC Chairman Gu Cheol-mo. Affirma already holds 29.15% of JTC's equity. Once the public purchase ends on September 10, it is expected to secure at least 69.48% of the equity. Affirma is then anticipated to actively pursue the sale of JTC's management rights.
JTC is headquartered in Fukuoka, Japan, and is listed on the KOSDAQ market. It ranks first in the post-duty-free market targeting group tourists visiting Japan. Last year, its sales revenue based on consolidation was 308.6 billion won, with an operating profit of 47.5 billion won.