SINGAPORE: The Philippines’ Converge ICT Solutions Inc is targeting the country’s biggest initial public offering (IPO) after setting price terms to raise as much as US$680mil, sources said, amid a boom in demand for fibre broadband during the pandemic.
Converge, which is banking on higher Internet demand for e-learning and working from home during the pandemic continuing, joins other companies in Malaysia and Thailand planning listings this month, signalling a revival in investor interest in South-East Asia’s underperforming markets.
Converge has set the sale price at 16.50 pesos to 19 pesos (34.06 US cents to 39.22 US cents) per share, sources said.
At the upper end, it could raise as much as 32.87 billion pesos (US$678.6mil), including the over-subscription option.
The country’s biggest IPO up to now was Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc, which raised US$627mil in 2013. A Converge spokesman declined to comment.
“There’s quite a lot of excitement as this is one of the highest growth stories coming out of the Philippines,” said one source.
The sources declined to be identified as they were not authorised to speak to media.
Seven cornerstone investors that had committed to buy shares include a Canadian pension fund, the sources said.
Morgan Stanley and UBS are global coordinators, while BPI Capital and BDO Capital are the joint local underwriters.
“Converge is in an industry that continues to grow by leaps and bounds in the pandemic,” April Lee Tan, research head at brokerage COL Financial in Manila, told ANC news network on Monday.
The Philippines’ bourse regulator on Friday approved Converge’s IPO.
The final price will be announced on Oct 9, while the offer period for up to 1.73 billion shares will run from Oct 13 to 19.
Converge has 750,000 residential customers mostly in and around the capital Manila. It lists US private equity firm Warburg Pincus as a minority shareholder. — Reuters
Converge, which is banking on higher Internet demand for e-learning and working from home during the pandemic continuing, joins other companies in Malaysia and Thailand planning listings this month, signalling a revival in investor interest in South-East Asia’s underperforming markets.
Converge has set the sale price at 16.50 pesos to 19 pesos (34.06 US cents to 39.22 US cents) per share, sources said.
At the upper end, it could raise as much as 32.87 billion pesos (US$678.6mil), including the over-subscription option.
The country’s biggest IPO up to now was Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc, which raised US$627mil in 2013. A Converge spokesman declined to comment.
“There’s quite a lot of excitement as this is one of the highest growth stories coming out of the Philippines,” said one source.
The sources declined to be identified as they were not authorised to speak to media.
Seven cornerstone investors that had committed to buy shares include a Canadian pension fund, the sources said.
Morgan Stanley and UBS are global coordinators, while BPI Capital and BDO Capital are the joint local underwriters.
“Converge is in an industry that continues to grow by leaps and bounds in the pandemic,” April Lee Tan, research head at brokerage COL Financial in Manila, told ANC news network on Monday.
The Philippines’ bourse regulator on Friday approved Converge’s IPO.
The final price will be announced on Oct 9, while the offer period for up to 1.73 billion shares will run from Oct 13 to 19.
Converge has 750,000 residential customers mostly in and around the capital Manila. It lists US private equity firm Warburg Pincus as a minority shareholder. — Reuters
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