Credit Suisse buys P860M worth of San Miguel shares
MANILA, Philippines—Credit Suisse (Hong Kong) Ltd. has acquired P860 million worth of San Miguel Corp. common shares earlier this month, thus completing its committed price stabilization program in the aftermath of a secondary share sale by the diversifying conglomerate.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Tuesday, SMC posted an advisory from Credit Suisse on the latter’s exercise of the over-allotment option and the completion of the price-stabilizing actions in relation to the recent equity deal.
From May 5 to 20, Credit Suisse acquired a total of 7.88 million shares at an average price of P109.18 each as part of its task as stabilizing manager for the offering.
The purchases helped SMC’s share price firm up in the aftermath of the secondary share sale priced at P110 a share.
On May 5 when secondary common shares placed out to new investors were crossed, SMC shares closed at P109.50, which was the same closing price when Credit Suisse completed its acquisition of 7.88 million shares on May 20.
As of Tuesday, SMC shares have dipped to P108.80, giving it a market capitalization of P259 billion. This was in line with the overall downturn seen in the local stock market in the last few days given the risk aversion triggered by fresh worries over Europe’s fiscal problems. Dealers said the end of the stabilization program, which was usual in the aftermath of equity offering deals, also weighed down SMC shares on Tuesday.
SMC recently sold almost $1 billion in a mix of convertible bonds and secondary shares. The equity portion of the offering widened its public float to 14 percent, thus complying with the 10-percent minimum public ownership required by the PSE for continued listing.
A total of 145.78 million common shares worth $370 million were crossed at the PSE on May 5 while $600 million worth of exchangeable bonds were simultaneously listed at the Singapore Stock Exchange.
The exchangeable bonds, which were sold to overseas investors, have a maturity of three years, a coupon of 2 percent a year and a conversion premium of 25 percent to the offer price.—Doris C. Dumlao
