The initial public offering of Wilcon Depot Inc. and preferred shares offering of Del Monte Pacific Ltd. Inc. received strong interest from investors, as both offerings were oversubscribed, the underwriter handling the two deals said Tuesday.
BDO Capital Investments Corp. president Eduardo Francisco said Wilcon’s P7-billion IPO was two to three-times oversubscribed at the end of the offer period on Friday.
“On our end, we were only able to give one third of the what our clients wanted because there was strong demand from investors,” Francisco said.
Del Monte’s base offering of $150-million preferred shares was also oversubscribed with a good chance that a portion of the $100-million oversubscription option would be exercised, he said.
“It is oversubscribed at the base offer of $150 million. This is good sign that Del monte is a good name. This new financial instrument is good. It will issue a little over $150 million” Francisco said.
Francisco said the successful offering of Del Monte’s dollar-denominated preferred shares could also encourage other companies to issue the same instrument.
Wilcon is the first company to conduct an IPO this year while Del Monte is the first company to raise funds through the issuance of dollar-denominated preferred shares.
Wilcon is selling 1.393 billion primary shares at an offer price of P5.05 per share to raise up to P7.03 billion in proceeds.
Over the next five years, Wilcon plans to open 29 new stores to add to its existing network of 37 stores.
Wilcon plans to expand in the Visayas and Mindanao to strengthen its position as the country’s leading home improvement and construction supplies retailer.
Fruit grower and canner Del Monte is selling 15 million preferred shares at $10 per share for a total of $150 million. Another 10 million preferred shares was set aside in case of oversubscription.