DOUBLEDRAGON Corp. (DD) expects improved operational efficiency and stronger group synergies following the completion of its tender offer for the shares of MerryMart Consumer Corp. (MM), which reached close to 99-percent acceptance.
In a message to shareholders released to the stock exchange on Thursday, DoubleDragon Chairman Edgar “Injap” Sia II said the acquisition, which was internally referred to as “Project Solidify,” meant to streamline operations and strengthen the group’s overall business ecosystem.
He said Merrymart shareholders who had tendered their shares totaled nearly 99 percent.
Sia added that the whole exercise was intended to enable Merrymart shareholders to remain as DoubleDragon shareholders at a “good exchange valuation of P9.30 for each DoubleDragon share.”
He explained that integrating MerryMart into the DoubleDragon ecosystem would enhance cost efficiency and operational alignment across the group’s retail, property, hospitality, and industrial businesses.
MerryMart has three brick-and-mortar retail formats and an online wholesale format and, as of end-2024, had 136 operational stores across the country. In addition, it also operates Injap Supermart, MSupplies, Carlos SuperDrug, Ceciles Pharmacy and MM Wholesale.
Sia said including MerryMart into the DoubleDragon ecosystem “will help us streamline operations, cost effectiveness and other advantages of being part of the bigger group.”
The consolidation is expected to improve long-term efficiency and optimization across the group’s portfolio, which includes MerryMart, CityMall, DoubleDragon Properties REIT and CentralHub industrial facilities, he added.
Sia also reiterated the group’s long-term vision of expanding its footprint across the Philippines and internationally, anchored on its Hotel101 hospitality model.
“DD Group will continue to cover all 82 provinces in the Philippines and bring its Hotel101 business model to 100 countries worldwide,” he said.
The DoubleDragon group remains focused on its long-term roadmap toward 2035, Sia stressed.
“In the next nine years, DD aims to grow its total revenues 18 times or to P500 billion in 2035,” he said, noting that the group has gained sufficient operational experience to support its long-term expansion strategy.
“The journey will not be a straight line, but with discipline, focus and perseverance, we will remain committed to our vision,” he said.
He also noted that on Tuesday, DoubleDragon shares had closed at P12.28, or more than six times its initial public offering price of P2.00 in 2014.
The company’s shares rose further on Thursday, adding P0.16, or 1.30 percent, to close at P12.44 each. MerryMart shares, meanwhile, last closed at 43.5 centavos each on June 1.
