MANILA: A retailer is set to raise $622m in one of the largest-ever initial public offerings in the Philippines, its main local underwriter said yesterday, as more companies sell shares to capitalise on the nation’s surging economy.
The leading Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc plans to use the money to boost its store chain from 940 to 1,400, said Dennis Du, Executive Director of Maybank ATR Kim Eng Capital, the IPO’s domestic underwriter. “This will be one of the biggest IPOs ever in the Philippines,” Du said.
Robinsons, owned by Chinese-Filipino tycoon John Gokongwei, told the Philippine Stock Exchange this week it will sell at least 461.9 million common shares to the public on October 29 at 58 pesos ($1.35) a share, or 26.79bn pesos ($622m) in total.
The country’s main business groups have taken to selling shares to raise capital to take advantage of robust economic growth that saw the Philippines’ gross domestic product rise by 6.8 percent last year and 7.6 percent in the first half of 2013.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index is up 13.3 percent this year, after a 33 percent surge last year.
The country’s biggest IPO launched in April when the LT Group Inc of Lucio Tan, the country’s second-wealthiest man, raised 37.72bn pesos.
Seventy percent of the Robinsons shares are to be sold to investors abroad and the balance will be sold in the Philippines on Tuesday, according to its prospectus.
Robinsons will list at the Philippine Stock Exchange on November 11, it added.
The retail chain includes department stores, groceries, hardware shops, drugstores, the local franchise to giant US retailer Toys R Us.
AFP
