OceanaGold files P7.9-B IPO bid

OceanaGold Philippines announced plans to raise as much as P7.9 billion from an initial public offering (IPO) by July this year, ending more than a decade-long drought in domestic mining listings amid more favorable regulatory conditions.

Owned by Canada-listed OceanaGold Corp., the local entity operates the Didipio gold-copper mine in Nueva Vizcaya province in Luzon.

The foreign parent firm announced on Friday night the filing of the Philippine IPO, which is required under its 25-year mining franchise that was renewed in 2021.

OceanaGold president and CEO Gerard Bond said the listing would give investors the opportunity to earn “consistent dividend payments” from resources in the Didipio project.

“We are proud of Didipio’s track record as a proven high-quality, long-life, low-cost gold-copper mine and look forward to welcoming new Filipino and international shareholders to participate in the expected robust free cash flow generation, consistent dividend payments and future potential at Didipio,” Bond said in an overseas regulatory filing.

OceanaGold hired BDO Capital & Investment Corp. as global coordinator, domestic underwriter and bookrunner while CLSA Ltd. was tapped as international underwriter.

Tiu-led Coal Asia’s 2012 public debut was the last mining company to list on the Philippine Stock Exchange. That was the same year the late President Benigno Aquino III issued a ban on new projects.

The OceanaGold Philippines IPO will involve the sale of 456 million common shares, or 20 percent of the company, for up to P17.28 per share. The offer, involving secondary shares owned by a subsidiary of the foreign parent company, will be completed before July 2024, the filing showed.

Luis Gerardo Limlingan, head of sales at stock brokerage firm Regina Capital Development, said fundraising plans could help the group expand operations at the Didipio project.

“The equities market has been slowly recovering with [projections of] interest rates dropping, so they might be able to time this properly to sell at a premium,” Limlingan told the Inquirer.

The industry could get an added boost under the Marcos administration, whose economic managers have openly pushed for the revival of mining as an economic growth driver.

More recently, Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs Frederick Go spoke in favor of shortening processing times to speed up the exploration of new resources, news reports showed.

On its website, OceanaGold said the Didipio project has an estimated mine life of about 10 years.

The company also provided an update on ongoing underground “optimization work” at the Nueva Vizcaya mine, which includes the potential to increase production of larger volumes of higher grade ore and an increase in the mine life.

The mining firm also estimated an “additional life-of-mine growth capital of between $100 million and $130 million for additional mine development, expansion of the mobile equipment fleet, paste fill plant upgrade, dewatering and ventilation.”

“We believe that the future at Didipio is bright and look forward to it continuing to create value for both OceanaGold and our new [OceanaGold Philippines] shareholders,” Bond said in the filing.

OceanaGold is the second company to apply for an IPO this 2024 after Citicore Renewable Corp., which aims to raise up to P12.9 billion in March. INQ