PSE OKs tugboat operator’s public offering proposal
The Philippine Stock Exchange board has approved the initial public offering proposal of tugboat operator Harbor Star Shopping Services Inc., the first company seen braving the capital market after the recent volatility.
In the meantime, Robinsons Retail, the retail arm of the Gokongwei group, is just waiting for a better time to go public. The Gokongweis eye a public offering of up to 35 percent of Robinsons Retail for an equity deal of about $800 million.
On Harbor Star, PSE president Hans Sicat told reporters Friday night that the local bourse had approved the listing plan of this company. “It’s a relatively small IPO but it’s good,” Sicat said. “It’s a tugboat operating company. It’s an interesting business, maybe not so common.”
The offering circular has yet to be released by the PSE but based on Harbor Star’s earlier regulatory filing in the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company aims to raise as much as P600 million from its public offering.
Sicat said Harbor Star would list on the PSE’s main board. The main board requires a minimum authorized capital stock of P500 million, at least 25 percent of which should be subscribed and fully paid. Upon listing, the market capitalization should be at least P500 million.
Harbor Star, which opened for business in 1998, operates a fleet of 27 tugboats in various major ports throughout the Philippines. Proceeds from the IPO are expected to be used for fleet expansion and debt retirement.
The company’s tugboats are deployed for ship salvaging, wreck removal, fire fighting, oil spill abatement and recovery, handling hazardous chemical, deep sea towing diving and underwater searches. The tugboats—which are operated in the ports of Bataan, Batangas, Quezon, Cebu, Dipolog, Iloilo, Cagayan de Oro, Bohol, Leyte and Davao—are also used to transport products such as oil, petroleum and mineral products from large deep-water vessels to smaller vessels.
The company’s plan, based on an earlier filing, was to sell 181.6 million primary common shares at an offer price of P3.27 per share, giving the public 30 percent ownership of the company.
It was earlier reported that Abacus Capital and Investments Corp. was the offering’s lead issue manager and underwriter.
In a separate event last week, Lance Gokongwei, president of JG Summit Holdings, told reporters that the group was not in a rush to bring Robinsons Retail public. He said having a successful IPO was a more important consideration for the group.
Based on earlier reports out of Hong Kong, Robinsons Retail was planning to sell a maximum 461.9 million shares at a price per share of up to P86.64, suggesting a maximum IPO size of $924 million.
IFR, a Thomson Reuters publication, reported that Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan and UBS had been mandated to manage the IPO.
