Axelum’s IPO price set at P5/share

Integrated coconut product manufacturer and exporter Axelum Resources Corp. has finalized its initial public offering (IPO) at P4 billion, with a mix of primary and secondary shares offered to the market at P5 a share.

A source privy to the offering estimated that the price was based on a valuation of 16 times prospective earnings for 2020.

At this valuation, Axelum will have a market capitalization of P20 billion upon listing.

In a statement on Friday, Axelum said it would sell up to 700 million primary common shares plus 100 million existing common shares or part of the shares held by Singaporean private equity firm CP Compass Singapore Pte. Ltd.

Jason Rosenblatt of the selling shareholder CP Compass said: “We decided to sell only 100 million shares instead of the initially planned 430 million shares after the final price was set as we believe Axelum is worth more than the set price of P5 per share.”

By further lowering the IPO price, the company seeks to attract more investors into this equity deal.

“At P5 per share, it’s cheap. It’s a good business. To us, it’s a social impact investment,” said a fund manager whose firm participated in the deal.

Axelum, however, is competing for fund allocation against other upcoming IPOs. Immediately following its offering, for instance, is the stock debut of the Villar family’s home improvement retailer AllHome Corp., which is raising as much as P18 billion.

The offer period for Axelum was set for Sept. 24 to 30, with the listing slated for Oct. 7. It will carry the trading symbol AXLM in the main board of the Philippine Stock Exchange. —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA