Cebu Pacific to raise P12B by going public
Gokongwei-owned budget carrier Cebu Pacific will go public this year to raise P12 billion, mostly from big foreign investors, for its expansion.
The Securities and Exchange Commission published a notice in a newspaper on Monday informing the public about the securities registration of Cebu Air, Inc., the operator of the budget airline.
The airline will seek to list about 125.25 million new common shares with a par value of a peso each via an initial public offering (IPO). At the maximum offer price of P95 set by the company, the new shares are valued at close to P12 billion.
Cebu Pacific is also selling 110.31 million shares at the same price, plus 35.33 million shares owned by Cebu Pacific parent JG Summit Holdings, Inc.
About 18.39 million more shares will also be listed under the company’s employee stock option plan, at a 25-percent discount.
The company originally planned to go public in 2008, but jittery markets forced it to defer the listing.
Officials on Monday noted that while the airline’s shares would be listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange, the firm would offer the shares primarily to foreign institutional investors.
"There is not enough capital available in the country for an offer of this size," JG Summit Vice-President for Finance Bach Johann Sebastian said in an interview.
He said the figures in the SEC notice were only indicative. "We just had to put a nominal value in our request, but that does not mean that we are targeting to raise that amount," he pointed out.
Sebastian declined to say when the company would sell the shares to the public.
He said the proceeds of the share sale would be used for the company’s continued expansion. "We continue to purchase new aircraft and we continue to grow."
Cebu Pacific swung to P1.78 billion in net profits in the third quarter of last year amid a global economic slump, from a net loss of P1.87 billion a year earlier.
Coco Martin
Rodolfo Noel Lozada