Cirtek raising $10M for acquisition

MANILA, Philippines—Laguna-based electronics manufacturer Cirtek Holdings Philippines Corp. is gearing up for another acquisition by raising $10 million from the issuance of corporate notes.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) on Friday, Cirtek said it had entered into a note facility agreement with Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. for the issuance of the corporate debt paper.

Unlike retail bonds, which are sold through a public offering and must go through a more tedious registration process at the Securities and Exchange Commission, corporate notes are a quicker fund-raising option for big corporations as they are sold to no more than 19 selected institutional investors.

In Cirtek’s case, Metrobank will be the initial noteholder and Metrobank-Trust Banking Group will be the facility and paying agent. First Metro Investment Corp. was mandated as the arranger for the issuance.

Cirtek chief finance officer Anthony Buyawe said in a text message that the corporate notes would have a term of five years.

“Proceeds will be used for project expansion and acquisitions,” Buyawe added.

He said a future acquisition would have to be disclosed at a later time.

Early this year, Cirtek, through wholly owned subsidiary Cirtek Electronics International Corp. (CEIC), acquired Remec Broadband Wireless International Inc., a Philippine-based manufacturer of value-added, highly integrated technology products. Its core capabilities include complete “box build” turnkey manufacturing solutions to radio frequency, microwave and millimeter-wave products used in the wireless industry such as telecommunication, satellite, aerospace and defense and automotive wireless devices.

Cirtek is an independent solution provider for subcontract manufacturing of semiconductor devices with nearly three decades of experience in the assembly and testing segment. It debuted on the local stock exchange in 2011 under the ticker “CHIPS.” Doris C. Dumlao