Glucose and protein plant expansion: Matco Foods generates investment worth Rs 757 million

Matco Foods Limited has successfully generates Rs 757 million investment for expansion of Glucose Syrup and Protein Plant production capacity by 200 percent. With rising domestic and international demand of Rice Glucose, the Matco Foods has planned to expand its Rice Glucose and Rice Protein production capacity by installing an additional unit of capacity 20,000 metric ton, bringing total capacity of Rice Glucose plant to 30,000 metric ton annually and Rice Protein to 3,000 metric ton annually by next fiscal year (FY19).
While addressing at a press conference here on Tuesday, Jawed Ali Ghori Chairman Matco Foods Limited said that 13th Feb is a historical day as company's shares were formally listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX). He informed that Matco Foods has completed the book building and public portion of the IPO in the last week of January with a total issue of 29,143,000 ordinary shares at a strike price of Rs 26 per share.
The gross proceeds to Matco Foods Limited from this offering were Rs 757 million before deducting underwriting discounts, commissions and offering expenses, he said. "Matco Foods Limited intends to use the net proceeds from this public offering for the expansion of its existing Rice Glucose and Protein Plant from 10,000 metric tons of glucose and 1,000 metric tons of protein production capacity per annum to 30,000 metric tons of glucose and 3,000 metric tons of protein respectively", Jawed mentioned.
Speaking on the occasion Faizan Ali Ghori, Director Finance Matco Foods said that listing on the PSX is an important milestone in the history of our Company and a matter of great pride for all the stakeholders of Matco. "We are grateful for the support of the investing community, our advisers, and especially the PSX and Securities Exchange Corporation of Pakistan (SECP), which are playing a highly commendable role in developing of the country's equity capital markets", he added.
He informed that Matco Foods brand "Falak" Basmati rice is available in all major cities of Pakistan and exported to over 40 countries around the world. "We will continue to invest and grow Pakistani rice brand domestically and abroad," Faizan pledged.
He also thanked the MCB Bank, which acted as book-running managers for the offering, and Arif Habib Limited for consultation to the issue. Director Finance said that Matco Foods Limited is a leading agri-business company in South-Asia with over 50 years of experience in the rice industry. The company has a global portfolio of more than 150 corporate customers and exports to over 60 countries world-wide.
The company also holds Organic Certifications from the US NOP and EU Organic Certification from Control Union. While, Matco Foods is also the only company in Pakistan, in which International Finance Corporation (IFC) has made and the World Bank Group Company has a 20 percent stakes in Matco assuring of their belief in the Company's potential for growth investment in 2012, he informed.
Talking about the market potential, Faizan informed that domestic target market for Rice Glucose are primarily of Pharmaceutical Companies, Biscuits Manufacturers, Confectionary Companies and at present, there are 1,000 pharmaceutical, biscuits and confectionary companies in Pakistan using Rice Glucose as raw material.
Currently, the country's consumption of Rice Glucose and Protein by these companies stands at 220,000 metric ton per annum and the sector has promising growth prospects as demand for end products using rice glucose and protein products will increase owing to growing population dynamics of Pakistan, he added.
Khalid Ghori, CEO of Matco Foods said that Matco Foods has a vast experience in the agricultural business and now the company has decided to diversify its operation within domain specialized products ie Rice Glucose and Rice Protein. Accordingly, it has successfully setup a plant that has started the commercial production of Rice Glucose and Rice Protein.