By Genivi Factao
BPI Capital Corp., the boutique investment banking arm of the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), is in talks with several companies planning to conduct an initial public offering (IPO) this year.
BPI Capital Officer in Charge and Managing Director Reggie Cariaso said this year is a good year for many companies to continue with their expansion plans. As they expand, they will need to raise their capital.
“The companies have grown a lot. They want to continue to grow, and they are looking for ways to finance their growth. Having access to the capital market will give them flexibility,” he told the
BusinessMirror.
“We’re in talks with small and medium enterprises [SMEs] and some large corporations planning to hold an IPO, hopefully within the year. Some of these companies could be in the consumer sector,” he said.
“The offer will be in various sizes. We’re still finalizing the structure for this deal. We have yet to decide on how many shares and the pricing,” he said, adding that he cannot disclose further details.
Philippine Stock Exchange COO Roel A. Refran said they are currently evaluating three applications for listing in the PSE.
“These applicants come from the consumer and manufacturing sector. Some of them are very aggressive, and they want to launch by the third quarter of the year,” he said during the interview.
Last year BPI Capital helped raise over P70.4 billion in the equity-capital markets and introduced some well-known names to the investing public for the first time. These included Max’s Group Inc.’s P3.5-billion pubic-equity offering, and SSI Group Inc.’s P7.5-billion IPO.
“The success of these deals was made possible through our diverse, comprehensive and innovative approach toward investments; our experienced team; and our solid partnership with the entire organization of BPI. We hope to help grow more business in the future,” Cariaso said.
BPI Capital’s client-focused and solutions-driven approach has been instrumental in introducing new names to investors. It helped businesses achieve their target growth through landmark and transformational deals.
The issuers in these deals range from small, medium to very large companies coming from industries such as consumer, technology, diversified, financials, telecommunications and construction.