Cirtek Holdings receives SEC’s nod to sell P3.5-b preferred shares

The Securities and Exchange Commission said Wednesday it approved the P3.5-billion preferred shares offering of semiconductor manufacturer Cirtek Holdings Philippines Corp.

Cirtek was allowed to register and offer up to 50 million preferred shares at a price of P50 apiece, with an oversubscription option for another 20 million preferred shares.

The company has yet to set the dividend rate for the preferred shares. The preferred shares will be listed and traded on the main board of the Philippine Stock Exchange. Cirtek will use the net proceeds from the offering will be used to refinance debt and support working capital of subsidiaries.

Cirtek said it was planning to spend P875 million to refinance debt from various banks and P500 to partially repay maturing preferred shares.

The remaining amount will be set aside for the capital spending requirement of US-based unit Quintel and other subsidiaries.

The offering will run from Nov. 25 to Dec. 3, in time for the listing of the preferred shares on the PSE on Dec. 10 based on the latest timetable submitted to the SEC.

Cirtek tapped PNB Capital and Investment Corp. as the sole issue manager, lead underwriter and sole bookrunner for the offering.

Cirtek is a fully-integrated global technology company engaged in high- technology product development and focused on 5G wireless communication.

The company is bullish on the semiconductor industry as the global market is expected to show a double-digit growth of 10.9 percent in 2021 to $488 billion.

It is also positive about the antenna business as the market, valued at $ 18.57 billion in 2018, is expected to reach a value of $27.7 billion by 2024, based on a study by Prime Feed.

The share price of Cirtek rose 1.4 percent Wednesday to close at P4.37.