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Wednesday November 1, 7:19 PMDuskin to list on Tokyo bourse this year - sourceTOKYO, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Duskin Co. Ltd., a provider of cleaning services and operator of Japan's biggest doughnut retailer chain, plans to float its shares on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by the end of this year with a public offer worth up to 30 billion yen ($257 million), a source close to the deal said on Wednesday.Duskin, which operates some 2,500 franchise outlets that rent cleaning products such as mats and mops to business and retail customers, has said it is preparing for a listing. "The offering of new shares and outstanding shares together would total between 20 to 30 billion yen," said the source, who declined to be identified. "The listing is set to be done by the end of this year." The Osaka-based company has said Daiwa Securities SMBC Co. Ltd. will lead-manage the listing. Duskin also operates several restaurant chains under franchise, including some 1,300 Mister Donut stores. While Mister Donut in the United States has been taken over by Dunkin' Brands Inc. and no longer exists, it has a history of more than three decades in Japan and is the most popular doughnut shop brand. Mister Donut shops started selling Chinese dishes in 1993 to compete with other fast food chains, such as McDonald's Holdings Company (Japan) Ltd. and Kentucky Fried Chicken Japan Ltd. . Earlier this year, Duskin became a major stakeholder in unlisted Higa Industries, the Japanese franchiser of Domino's Pizza Inc. . The company has spent billions of yen to improve its brand image since damages it suffered four years ago after it failed to swiftly disclose that Mister Donut shops sold meat dumplings containing an unauthorised additive. General trading firm Mitsui & Co. Ltd. holds a 5 percent stake and is the biggest shareholder. In the year ended March, Duskin posted a group net profit of 8.6 billion yen on sales of 193.8 billion yen. The profit was up 573 percent from a year ago on cost cuts and after Duskin shut down an unprofitable retail cell phone business. By comparison, Unimat Life Corp. , which supplies coffee services and rental mats to offices, posted a group net profit of 1.35 billion yen on sales of 37.7 billion yen in the year ended March. Shares in Unimat Life have been trading at around 15 times prospective 2006/07 earnings. ($1=116.96 Yen) |
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