DITO CME Holdings Corp. led by businessman Dennis Uy plans to push through with its P4.2-billion preferred share offering next month, according to its underwriter.
BDO Capital and Investments Corp. president Eduardo Francisco said the company was in talks with a foreign fund to be a cornerstone investor for the deal before proceeding with the share sale.
Francisco said the offering might push through in November.
DITO earlier CME deferred its planned P4.2-billion share sale, citing requests received from potential investors asking for additional time to further evaluate the investment opportunity.
The company was initially planning to offer 1.953 billon primary common shares for P1 to P2.15 apiece to fund the commercial rollout of its network expansion and for general corporate purposes.
DITO CME tapped BDO Capital as the sole underwriter for the transaction. The Securities and Exchange Commission and the PSE approved the offering.
DITO CME reported in July that it was planning to raise up to P40.26 billion until 2028 to address its negative equity position and support its expansion.
The company raised P5.5 billion as of end-2023 from private investments made by third parties Xterra Ventures Pte Ltd., Summit Telco Corp. Pte Ltd. and Summit Telco Holdings Corp.
DITO Telecommunity had over 11.3 million subscribers and about 7,450 telecommunications towers, covering over 80.65 percent of the Philippine’s population as of June 2024.
Its net loss widened to P28.19 billion in the first half of 2024 from P3.18-billion net loss in the same period last year. Net loss in the second quarter alone ballooned to P18.1 billion from P2.47 billion a year earlier.
Consolidated net revenues, mainly generated by DITO Telecommunity, soared to P7.6 billion in first half from P5.96 billion in 2023.
