Oversubscription marks GT Capital’s initial offering

GT Capital Holdings on Tuesday announced that it would sell shares to the public at P455 apiece, pricing the Philippines’ first initial public offering for 2012 at the middle of the targeted price range, for a stock market debut worth up to P21.6 billion.

The maiden offering, which has been warmly received by the overseas market, is priced 13 times the profit that the diversified conglomerate hopes to make this year—a valuation many stock analysts consider to be an attractive proposition.

After a six-city international roadshow, GT Capital saw an oversubscription of its stock by more than five times the offering size.

GT Capital president Carmelo Bautista said in a statement that investors were even willing to buy at P415 to P470 apiece—the high end of the share price range.

“Despite the strong demand, we decided not to price at the top of the range, to leave investors with room for upside. Other than the overwhelming interest in GT Capital, this landmark transaction really highlights the new vote of confidence in the Philippine investment story among global investors,” GT Capital vice chair Alfred Ty said.

The primary component of the offering—one of the largest in the local bourse—translates to P15 billion, while the secondary tranche is P6.6 billion, inclusive of a P2.8-billion overallotment option.

Half of the order book was filled by investors from Asia, while investors from the United States and Europe accounted for the rest. There are about 100 offshore investors participating in the deal.

“This transaction will be remembered as one of the greatest IPOs ever done in the Philippines,” said Lauro Baja, managing director at UBS Philippines, which is the lead global arranger for this issue. Up to 70 percent of the IPO size can be sold to offshore investors, but the Tys may decide to increase the domestic portion, Baja said.

GT Capital is offering up to 41.217 million firm shares and an over-allotment option of 6.18 million shares.

The domestic offering will run from April 10 to 16, while the listing is targeted for April 20.

The sole domestic coordinator and bookrunner is First Metro Investment Corp.