PSE oks Del Monte PH’s P17.55B IPO

The Philippine Stock Exchange has approved a P17.55-billion initial public offering by food producer Del Monte Philippines Inc. (DMPI), the local unit of Campos family-led multi-national conglomerate Del Monte Pacific Ltd., by June.

About 587.43 million secondary shares of DMPI will be offered to the public at a price of as much as P29.88 per share.

Based on an offering circular issued by the PSE, the equity deal will be priced on June 6 while the offering will run from June 8 to 18 this year.

Listing on the stock exchange is scheduled for June 25.

The selling shareholder is Central American Resources Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Del Monte Pacific Resources Ltd. which is in turn, a wholly-owned subsidiary of DMPL.

DMPI is a market leader in the Philippines, with market shares ranging from 41 percent to 85 percent in categories such as canned pineapple and mixed fruit, canned and tetra ready-to-drink juices, tomato sauce, and spaghetti sauce.

The company will not directly receive any net proceed from the offering but the seller of the shares – the ultimate parent company, Del Monte Pacific Ltd. (DMPL)- intends to use the proceeds to reduce debt stock and strengthen its balance sheet.

BDO Capital & Investment Corp. is the issue manager, sole global coordinator and sole bookrunner for the offering.

The joint domestic lead underwriters are BDO Capital, BPI Capital and China Bank Capital. Joint international lead underwriters are DBS Bank Ltd. and Nomura Singapore Ltd. The participating underwriters are PNB Capital and RCBC Capital Corp.