SEC approves Megaworld’s P10-B capital hike

MANILA, Philippines—Property developer Megaworld Corp. has obtained approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission to beef up its authorized capital base by P10 billion.

This recapitalization program—earlier approved by shareholders to finance project development, land acquisition and other corporate purposes—will bring Megaworld’s authorized capital to P40.2 billion, consisting of 40.14 billion common shares with a par value of P1 per share and six billion preferred shares with a par value of one centavo each.

Megaworld’s common shares are currently valued by the market at P3.37 per share based on morning trade on Monday, giving the Andrew Tan-led property firm a market capitalization of around P100.46 billion.

The company has about 29.59 billion common shares currently issued and outstanding, equivalent to 73.7 percent of its newly raised authorized capital stock.

Parent company Alliance Global Group. Inc. earlier announced subscription to 25 percent of the P10-billion increase in Megaworld’s capital equivalent to 2.5 billion common shares at the subscription price of P4.29 per share for a total bloc of P10.725 billion. The subscription price marked a 5-percent premium over Megaworld’s 30-day volume-weighted average price when the infusion was committed in May this year.

AGI had said Megaworld stock was “undervalued” and that it remained “confident that the real estate market will continue to expand due to strong demand fueled by a robust Philippine economy.”