For many, rainy days often signal gloom, especially when they disrupt long-awaited plans. But for Erik Lim, CEO of Top Line Business Development Corp., a brief but busy visit to Manila was filled with optimism as he looks ahead to the company’s next big step—its initial public offering (IPO).
Lim, 38, is at the helm of Top Line, a Cebu-based family-run company founded in 2013. It serves as the holding firm of the Topline Group, with businesses in commercial fuel trading, logistics, ports, energy, and real estate. The company operates under a business-to-business model that integrates its subsidiaries to create synergy and ensure reliable access to fuel and essential services.
Now, the company is preparing to raise P732.62 million through an IPO on April 8. At the center of this offering is Light Fuels Corp., Top Line’s two-year-old retail arm focused on fueling the growing demand from motorcycle users—a market that Lim describes as “niche” yet dominant in Central Visayas.
“Right now, we’re still focused on Metro Cebu and Central Visayas because there’s still a lot of opportunities,” Lim said. “Particularly in Metro Cebu, we see that potential because there’s a niche market.”
According to Lim, motorcycles account for 68 percent of vehicles in the region. This gives Top Line a strategic edge, allowing it to focus on two-wheeled vehicles rather than competing directly in the crowded four-wheel market.
So far, Top Line has opened four Light Fuels stations across Cebu and plans to increase this to at least 20 over the next two years—five times its current footprint.
“If you think about the expansion program for Light Fuels, it’s actually more aggressive than before,” Lim said, noting that last year’s post-IPO target was just 10 stations.
The company’s foundation in Cebu remains a key advantage. Lim, along with his siblings Brigitte Carmel (chief operating officer) and Constance Marie (chief financial officer), steered the company from a real estate business into a full-fledged fuel enterprise.
“Top Line is really basically our family—my dad, my mom, my siblings, everyone,” Lim said in a July 2024 interview, where he recalled squeezing in a Manila trip before returning to Cebu to celebrate Brigitte’s birthday.
This close-knit dynamic appears to be one of the company’s strengths. Since its beginnings under Topline Properties and Development Corp., the siblings have expanded operations significantly.
“When we saw the fuel tankers fueling the vessels, we said: ‘Maybe this could be profitable—another business,’” Lim recalled.
Their instincts proved right. Fuel retail and commercial trade have since become Top Line’s core business, with the company posting a 157 percent rise in net income to P90.5 million in the first nine months of last year. During the same period, it sold 50.8 million liters of liquid fuels, a 19 percent increase from the previous year.
“Ever since we started, we’ve been growing radically for the last few years, and we will work hard to continue that growth,” said Brigitte during a recent media briefing.
For the Lim siblings, the IPO is not just a financial move—it’s a strategy to scale faster. As Erik put it on that rainy day in Manila, “An IPO is the best way to accelerate.”