The Securities and Exchange Commission approved the P1.44-billion initial public offering of healthcare provider Allied Care Experts (ACE) Medical Iloilo.
Documents filed with the SEC showed ACE Medical would sell up to 36 million in primary shares for P25,000 to P40,000 per share.
ACE Medical plans to use the net proceeds from the fund-raising activity to finance the construction, development and operations of the hospital, as well as acquisition of medical equipment.
ACE Medical Center-Iloilo is currently constructing a 200-bed secondary hospital in Jaro, Iloilo City. The nine-story building with a total floor area of over 25,000 square meters will be a world-class medical facility manned by medical specialists.
The hospital building as of end November is 75 percent completed and is expected to be inaugurated by September 2019.
Formed in 2014, ACE Medical is the third hospital company to file for an initial public offering with the SEC. The company plans to set up a tertiary healthcare facility, offering the best medical services to clients and stakeholders.
The SEC earlier approved the application for registration and public offering of Diliman Doctors Hospital and St. Luke’s Medical Center Global City.
The SEC in 20176 required companies planning to sell securities in the form of shares of stock in hospitals currently under construction to file a registration statement with the corporate regulator before they are offered to the public.
The SEC said the shares of stock being offered were within the definition of “securities” as defined in the Securities Regulation Code. The shares are also required to be registered with the SEC under a simplified format before being offered or sold to the general public.
The SEC said a pending application for registration without approval of the commission does not give hospitals the license to issue such shares of stock.