CHELSEA Logistics Corp., a company founded and led by Davao businessman Dennis Uy, has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) a preliminary prospectus for its initial public offering (IPO) by July.
The company said it is planning to offer 546.59 million common shares at a maximum price of P14.63 each, raising P8 billion in fresh capital.
The offer is about 30 percent of its 1.82 billion outstanding shares after the IPO.
The company said it has moved toward launching an IPO to accelerate its expansion while the Philippine economy continues to progress.
This will be the third company of Uy’s Udenna Group to go public after Phoenix Petroleum Philippines Inc. and 2Go Group Inc., which are now under his management. The company hopes to join the main board of the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) under the ticker symbol “CLC”.
CLC also lodged with the PSE an application to list the offer shares and the rest of its outstanding shares.
“We are accelerating the expansion of Chelsea Logistics, with a view to make it the prime mover of goods and passengers in the Philippines,” said Uy, the company’s president. “As we move forward, we hope to contribute to our economy’s growth.”
“As it expands further, Chelsea Logistics aims to support and facilitate more efficient trading within and outside the archipelago in light of ongoing efforts to strengthen the Asean Economic Community,” he said.
Proceeds of the IPO is largely earmarked for the expansion of the company’s cargo and passenger shipping businesses organically, as well as through acquisitions.
The company will run the IPO from June 21 to 27 and debut on the PSE on or about July 5, subject to approval by regulators.
BDO Capital serves as the issue manger, lead underwriter and sole bookrunner.
CLC is the logistics arm of Udenna Corp., the holding company of Uy, who has built and grown companies like Phoenix Petroleum into major industry players.
Udenna ventured into the logistics sector as early as 2006 through Chelsea Shipping Corp. (CSC) to support the operations of Phoenix Petroleum, formerly Davao Oil Terminal and Services Corp.
The shipping business of Udenna has since grown into the country’s largest shipping group operating throughout the Philippines and Southeast Asia. It has the largest tanker fleet in the country in terms of capacity with a total 39,271.64 gross registered tonnage.
The company said it wants to further strengthen its presence in the logistics sector by creating synergies with publicly listed integrated transport solutions provider 2Go.
Chelsea was organized and registered with the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission on August 26, 2016 as Chelsea Shipping Group Corp., and changed its name in December on the same year.
The company engages in the shipping-transport business through its wholly owned subsidiaries CSC and Trans-Asia Shipping Lines Inc.
CSC engages in the maritime conveyance or transport of petroleum products, goods, wares and merchandise in the Philippines, while Trans-Asia Shipping engages in transporting passengers and cargo within Philippine territorial waters and/or in the high seas.
In March 2017, CLC acquired the outstanding capital stock of Udenna Investments BV through a shareswap agreement.
Udenna has economic interests in KGLI-NM Holdings Inc., which has direct ownership of Negros Navigation Co. Inc., the largest shareholder in 2GO Group Inc.