Taipan George Ty has filed an application with the Securities and Exchange Commission to conduct an initial public offering for his flagship holding firm GT Capital Holdings Inc. worth as much as P24.6 billion.
The offering, which seeks to take advantage of the strong interest in conglomerates as a proxy to the buoyant domestic economy, will consist of up to 41.22 million shares and an over-allotment option of 6.18 million shares.
The shares will be offered for up to P520 each, suggesting a P21.43-billion equity deal. This can increase to P24.6 billion if the over-allotment option will be exercised. This equity exercise can bring to public hands as much as 30 percent of GT’s outstanding stock.
Of the total offer, up to 33 million will consist of primary common shares, suggesting that as much as P17.16 billion in new money can flow into the holding firm, which has interests in banking (Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co.), real estate (Federal Land Inc.), automotive (Toyota Motor Philippines), insurance (Phil AXA Life Insurance Corp.) and power generation (Global Business Power). The remainder will be secondary shares affiliated with the principal shareholder.
The documents indicated that UBS will be the sole global coordinator, international bookrunner and lead manager while its domestic counterpart is First Metro Investment Corp. The company has yet to determine an exact date for the offering within 2012.
The P17.16 billion in proceeds from the primary component of the offering will be used to expand various operating units. For instance, up to P6.16 billion will be used for the capital spending of Federal Land this year, particularly to bankroll ongoing projects like Grand Hyatt, Marco Polo Residences and Metropolitan Park.
Other IPO disbursement plans are: P1 billion to exercise an option to acquire a 4.6-percent stake in Global Business Power; up to P3 billion for Toyota’s expansion; P4 billion to repay existing debt of GT Holdings; and P3 billion for new business development, including possible participation in infrastructure projects, business process outsourcing, renewable energy and general corporate purposes.
As of end-2010, GT Holdings had total resources of P49.35 billion. It posted a net income of P3.22 billion in 2010 compared with P2.37 billion a year before.