Philippines First Gen Says IPO To Raise Total PHP9.78B
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
MANILA (Dow Jones)--First Gen Corp., one of the Philippines' largest power producers, Tuesday said it will raise a total PHP9.78 billion ($187 million) from its initial public offering to finance its expansion plans.
At the start of the domestic offering Tuesday, First Gen Chief Financial Officer Giles Puno said around 15% of the total proceeds will be kept by UBS Investment Bank, one of the underwriters, for 30 days after the listing as a standby fund to stabilize the share price if needed.
Giles said that UBS is duty-bound by the underwriting agreement to prevent First Gen's price from falling below the IPO price of PHP47. Any funds left after the 30-day period will be forwarded by UBS to First Gen, he added.
First Gen is offering a total 208 million shares, which include 27.1 million set aside for the green shoe option. The shares are equivalent to a 26% stake in the company.
Puno said that 80% of the shares have already been sold to foreign investors and the proceeds are set to be remitted next week.
The power producer set the IPO price Thursday after completing an international roadshow. The price was lower than the PHP51 to PHP62 price range indicated by the company before the international offer started a week earlier.
The company said last week, however, that traders welcomed the lower price, saying the size and price of the offering reflected a more comfortable level for investors.
First Gen started its domestic offering Tuesday and is scheduled to list on the stock exchange Feb. 10. ATR-Kim Eng Capital Partners Inc. and BDO Capital & Investments Corp. will handle the local offering.
The company plans to use the IPO proceeds to build a new power plant or acquire power plants that state utility National Power Corp. (NAP.YY) plans to privatize. First Gen, which has a generation capacity of 1,726.6 megawatts - 11% of the Philippine power sector's installed capacity - plans to start building another 550 megawatt natural gas-fired power plant south of Manila next year.
The 550 megawatt San Gabriel power plant is intended to address a projected power shortage seen hitting the Philippines by 2010. First Gen is a unit of Philippine-listed First Philippine Holdings Inc. (FPH.PH), which also has interest in power distribution and toll road operations.
posted by philpower @ 11:40 AM,
