DITO CME Holdings Corp., the telecom company led by businessman Dennis Uy, expects to raise P2.05 billion from its planned shares offering after setting the final offer price at P1.05 per share.
The final offer price represents a steep percent discount to the stock’s closing price of P1.91 per share on Friday. It is at the bottom of the price range of P1 to P2.11, when the company filed with the corporate regulators.
As a result, the share price of DITO plummeted by 6.3 percent to P1.79.
The offer period for the sale of up to 1.953 billion common shares will run from Nov. 20 to 26, 2024. The shares will be listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange on Dec. 6, 2024.
DITO CME said it would use the net proceeds from the fund-raising activity to finance 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 earlier said it was aiming to raise up to P40.26 billion until 2028 to address its negative equity position and finance expansion plans.
The company raised P5.5 billion as of end-2023 through private investments made by third parties Xterra Ventures Pte Ltd., Summit Telco Corp. Pte Ltd. and Summit Telco Holdings Corp.
DITO Telecommunity, its telecom unit, had over 11.3 million subscribers and about 7,450 telecommunications towers, covering over 80.65 percent of the Philippines’ population as of June 2024.