MANILA, Philippines?Budget carrier Cebu Pacific Monday announced plans to raise about P12 billion through the sale of new shares to the public.

Cebu Air Inc., the company that operates the Cebu Pacific airline, said it planned to list 125.25 million new common shares through an initial public offering (IPO). At the maximum offer price of P95 each set by the company, the new shares are valued at close to P12 billion.

The company also said that it had asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to approve its request to list an additional 110 million existing shares at the same price.

The company wants to list 35.33 million shares owned by Cebu Pacific?s parent company JG Summit Holdings Inc. ?subject to the over-allotment option granted to the stabilizing agent under the same terms and conditions as the primary and secondary offer.?

In addition, an extra 18.4 million shares will also be listed as part of the company?s employee stock option plan, at a 25-percent discount to the IPO price.

The company originally planned to go public in 2008, but jittery market conditions at the time forced Cebu Pacific to postpone an IPO.

Officials Monday said that while the airline?s shares would be listed on the local bourse, the company would offer the shares primarily to international institutional investors.

?There is not enough capital available in the country for an offer of this size,? JG Summit vice president for finance Bach Johann Sebastian said in an interview.

He said the figures were only indicative and did not necessarily mean that this would be the exact amount the company wanted to raise.

Sebastian declined to say when the company planned to conduct its IPO. ?We just had to put a nominal value in our request, but that does not mean that we are targeting to raise that amount,? he said.

He said the proceeds of the IPO would be used for the company?s continuing expansion plans.

Cebu Pacific swung to profitability in the third quarter of last year with a net income of P1.78 billion against a net loss of P1.87 billion in the same period in 2008.