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THE
Kapuso Network, officially the broadcasting giant GMA
Network Inc., displayed a strong showing on its first
trading day as a listed company in the stock market
Monday, going up to P8.70 from an opening offered price
of P8.50, to a closing price of P10.50 per share.
“I am
glad the price is rising. I am happy with the way it is
developing. I have no complaints,” said company chairman
and president Felipe L. Gozon.
Similarly, the stock price for GMA Holdings Inc.’s
Philippine deposit receipts (PDRs) went up P11 per share
from the offer price of P8.50.
GMA
Network sold 91.35 million primary shares. GMA Holdings
offered 822.12 million PDRs, comprised of 91.35 million
on underlying primary GMA Network common shares and
730.77 million on underlying secondary GMA Network
common shares, but did not say how many were sold on the
first day.
The
network generated P1.55 billion in proceeds from the
sale of primary shares and PDRs, which it will use to
fund its expansion program.
The
selling shareholders—the Gozons, Duavits, Jimenezes—raised
P6.21 billion from the sale of secondary PDRs. At the
offer price of P8.50, GMA’s market capitalization
amounts to P41.3 billion.
“The
public now owns 19 percent of the network and could
further go up to 22.77 percent, including the
overallotment option,” said Gozon. The ownership of the
selling shareholders, meanwhile, will now be 77.23
percent.
The
selling shareholders have granted the stabilizing agent,
Deutsche Bank AG, to purchase or place up to 123.32 PDRs
at the PDR offer price, and up to 13.70 common shares at
the share offer price, representing up to 15 percent of
the combined offer solely to cover overallotments. The
said option can be exercised within 30 days from the
listing of the shares.
“The
overallotment is a stabilization process. The
stabilizing agent will buy the shares if the price drops
below the IPO price and they will exercise if the price
is above the IPO price,” said Roberto Banares, managing
director of ATR Kim Eng Capital Partners Inc., the
network’s domestic underwriter.
Some
market experts said the listing of GMA was evidently not
affected by the complaint lodged earlier by former
presidential daughter and now Congressman Imee Marcos.
Marcos
had questioned the 28.35- percent ownership of the
Duavit family in the GMA, saying the stake was actually
owned by her family and was “merely held in trust” by
the Duavits. The stake, she added, was acquired from the
Republic Broadcasting through Gilberto M. Duavit in
1973.
Jimmy
Duavit, the network’s executive vice president and chief
operating officer, said the claim of Marcos “is totally
baseless. . . . Now beyond that, I would prefer to refer
any inquiries to my counsel. But let me reiterate that,
as far as we are concerned, that is baseless.” |
