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Friday, March 29, 2024

Converge ICT seeks SEC nod for October IPO worth P35.9b

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Converge ICT Solutions Inc. on Friday filed an application with the Securities and Exchange Commission to hold a P35.9-billion initial public offering in October.

The company said in a registration statement it was planning to sell up to 1.3 billion common shares and an over-allotment of 195 million common shares at an offering price of P24 apiece.

The planned IPO would facilitate the listing of the fiber internet and other consumer-centric digital services provider on the main board of the Philippine Stock Exchange.

It said up to 415.68 million of the 1.3 billion shares are primary stocks and 885.6 million are secondary shares.

It tentatively set the offering period from Oct. 13 to 19 and the listing date on Oct. 26.

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Net proceeds from the share sale will be used as capital expenditures to accelerate the nationwide fiber network rollout.

The company tapped Bank of the Philippine Islands, BDO Unibank Inc., Morgan Stanley and UBS Group AG for the planned share sale.

Converge ICT’s IPO could potentially be the largest share sale in the country since the maiden offering of Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc., which raised P28 billion in proceeds in 2013.

Converge ICT is just the second company to file for an IPO this year. The first was grocery chain MerryMart Consumer Corp., which was listed on the local bourse last month.

Analysts said that while the market remains volatile, they are bullish on telecommunication companies because of the increased demand for faster connectivity as millions of people are working and learning from home amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Converge ICT had over 615,000 subscribers as of end-March 2020.

The company reported in May that it acquired 50,000 new residential subscribers, the highest monthly gross adds on record.

Converge ICT took in United States-based Warburg Pincus, one of the world’s biggest private equity firms, as a minority investor through a $250-million equity investment last year.  

The company plans to use the proceeds from the equity investment to finance a $1.8-billion nationwide internet backbone.

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