Philippine Puregold says IPO to raise up to $290mn

MANILA: Philippine supermarket chain Puregold Price Club Inc could raise up to 12.42 billion pesos ($290 million) in a delayed initial public offering, 14 percent higher than originally planned, its preliminary IPO prospectus showed.

Puregold, which operates 72 stores across the country, plans to sell up to 600 million common shares at up to 18 pesos each, with another 90 million shares allotted for a greenshoe option.

The maximum offer price was lifted from 16 pesos in IPO plans announced late last year, while the offer size was reduced from 700 million shares.

Puregold said the offer, which will account for 34.5 percent of its issued and outstanding capital stock after the IPO, consists of up to 500 million new shares and up to 100 million shares from selling shareholders.

It gave no timing for the IPO, although issue manager BDO Capital & Investment Corp has told local media the company was looking for a listing before the end of the year.

The IPO was originally set for launch in March but was delayed due to market conditions.

HSBC and UBS AG have been appointed as international lead managers, while BDO Capital & Investment Corp and First Metro Investment Corp are the domestic lead managers for the share sale.

There has only been one Philippine IPO so far this year. Megawide Construction Corp raised $52 million through a share sale about six months ago.

Local conglomerate San Miguel Corp's power unit, SMC Global Power Holdings Corp, is looking to raise $500 million via an IPO this year. It has not yet filed a prospectus for the offer.

Copyright Reuters, 2011