Wilcon Depot Inc., an operator of home improvement and construction supplies stores, postponed by a week the timetable for its planned P7.9-billion initial public offering.
Documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission showed Wilcon’s offer period would now be on March 20 to March 24, instead of the initial target of March 13 to 17.
Listing date was also set on March 31, instead of March 23. The final offer price for the IPO will be released March 17.
Wilcon’s public offering, approved by the SEC last week, would become the first IPO this year. It is also the biggest IPO application filed with the SEC in 2017.
Wilcon plans to sell up to 1.393 billion common shares at an offer price of up to P5.68 per share. Net proceeds from the fund raising activity will be used to finance store expansion, debt repayment and other general corporate purposes.
The company said of the expected proceeds, it planned to budget P6.08 billion for store network expansion, including construction and building of new stores.
It intends to add 29 new stores over the next five years and expand its presence to Cavite, Zamboanga, Iloilo, Tacloban, Cabanatuan, Bicol, General Santos, Davao, Lucena, Isabela, Tagum, Tuguegarao, Surigao and Cabanatuan.
The home improvement and construction supplies retailer is also looking at acquisitions to accelerate the expansion.
“The company’s target acquisitions must have a strategic fit with its current operations and opportunities for the company to explore other business segments and add value to the new businesses using its existing competitive strengths. The company is still in the early stages of evaluating this option and there are no definitive agreements signed,” Wilcon said.
Wilcon operates the home improvement and retail construction business of the Belo family, led by chairman William Belo.