OceanaGold Philippines secures SEC OK for P7.9-B IPO

MANILA, Philippines — OceanaGold Philippines is moving closer to a P7.9 billion public debut in May after securing the approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission to launch the country’s first mining initial public offering (IPO) in a decade.

The SEC Commission En Banc said on Tuesday it had approved the company’s registration statement.

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

The IPO involves the sale of 456 million shares priced at up to P17.28 each, which values 100 percent of OceanaGold Philippines at almost P40 billion.

Based on its latest timeline, the shares will be priced on April 17 this year while the offer period will run from April 22 to April 26, 2024.

READ: OceanaGold files P7.9-B IPO bid

OceanGold Philippines will list its shares on the main board of the Philippine Stock Exchange on May 7, 2024 under the stock code “OGP”.

Offer period on April 22 to 26

“Net proceeds from the offer are expected to reach P7.8 billion, which will go directly to the selling shareholder. The company will not receive any proceeds from the offer,” the SEC noted.

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

READ: OceanaGold Philippines budgets $7M for Didipio, new mine site

Meanwhile, OceanaGold Philippines hired BDO Capital & Investment Corp. as the domestic underwriter and bookrunner for the IPO, while CLSA Ltd. will serve as international underwriter.

Its latest financial statement showed net income falling over 51 percent to $26.8 million in 2023 compared to the previous year despite revenues rising 20.2 percent to $371.1 million.

Earnings were weighed down by higher revenue sharing in favor of the government and non-cash expense amounting to $31.7 million, attributed to outstanding claims on input value-added tax and excise tax.