SEC okays Asia United Bank listing on local bourse

SEC okays Asia United Bank listing on local bourse

MANILA, Philippines—The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved a plan by the Rebisco group’s commercial banking arm Asia United Bank to debut on the Philippine Stock Exchange and sell as much as P9.68 billion in shares of stock.

AUB plans to sell up to 88 million primary common shares for as much as P110 per share. The base offer consists of 80 million shares while additional 8 million shares were set aside for overallotment.

This offering, which will take place on May 7 to 14, will bring to public hands around 30 percent of the bank’s post-IPO capitalization. IPO pricing will be finalized by May 3 while listing on the PSE is targeted on May 17.

UBS AG Kong Kong branch and Credit Suisse (Singapore) Ltd. have been mandated as the joint bookrunners and joint lead managers for this offering. Mandated as sole global coordinator is UBS AG.

AUB is owned by a diverse group of Asian investors engaged in property development, manufacturing, and other equity ventures. Rebisco, the Philippines’ leading manufacturer, distributor, and exporter of snack food products for the past 49 years, is the biggest shareholder of the bank.

In 2012, AUB posted a 20-percent growth in net profit to P1.36 billion attributed to robust trading and lending activities. The 15-year-old bank, which aspires to be a more significant player in the Philippine banking system, expanded its balance sheet last year by 27 percent to P63.35 billion while its capitalization went up by 25 percent to P11.5 billion. Capital adequacy ratio to risk assets stood at 15 percent versus the minimum requirement of 10 percent.