BIZ BRIEFS

Discovery World defers P1-B IPO

DISCOVERY World Corp., developer of upscale beachfront resort Discovery Shores Boracay, has deferred its P1-billion initial public offering which would have originally run through the so-called “ghost” month period.

DWC wrote the Philippine Stock Exchange to request the deferment of the IPO to a later date, citing “certain forthcoming events that we believe will have a material positive impact on the company, its business, and future prospects.”

“We have decided to await these developments prior to undertaking our IPO to give prospective investors a better basis for making an investment decision relative to our share offering,” DWC said in a letter posted by the PSE on Friday. /INQUIRER.

Gymboree Play and Music

A businesswoman is aiming to get a share of the increasing disposable income of parents in Cebu.

Trixie Suarez, managing director of Gymboree Play and Music, said after eight years of operating the center at the Banilad Trade Center in barangay Banilad, Cebu City, she’s opening another branch at the Mezzanine floor of  Cebu Parklane International Hotel today.

According to Suarez, when they first introduced Gymboree in 2005, they had a difficult time convincing parents to enrol their kids in their center.

“Now however, we are seeing parents coming to us that’s because they already know us and trust us. In the last eight years we have  had 1,750 children enrolled in our center,” said  Suarez.

Gymboree Parklane is the 13th branch in the country which covers a floor area of at least 215 square meters  in the hotel.

She said the expansion only shows that the Cebu market has matured and is now more conscious of their children’s early development.

She again cited the increasing disposable income as a factor that encourages parents to invest more in their children./Reporter Aileen Garcia-Yap