THE Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) has tapped top executives of listed firms to share their successful initial public offering (IPO) experiences in a bid to encourage more companies to list at the local bourse.
“What better way to embolden companies to conduct an IPO than to hear meaningful insights from those who have successfully gone through the IPO route, and continue to reap the benefits of being a listed company,” Ramon S. Monzon, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the PSE, said in a statement on Thursday.
The PSE said it wants business leaders to realize that an IPO listing is “a catalyst to propel their companies to a higher level of growth and maturity.”
“We are opening more avenues for entrepreneurs to learn more about the process of going public, as well as introduce reforms in our listing requirements in order to encourage more businesses to consider capital raising through the stock market,” Mr. Monzon said.
The PSE is organizing a virtual round table discussion called “The Road to IPO,” which will be held at 2:00 p.m. on May 25.
The move comes as the operator of the local bourse steps up its efforts to encourage companies to raise capital at the stock market through an IPO.
Recently, the PSE has relaxed listing requirements both for the main and the small, medium, emerging (SME) boards and has applied “a measure that will gauge a company’s suitability for listing despite the challenges it is facing due to the pandemic.”
“The Philippine stock market lags behind when it comes to the number of companies going public,” Mr. Monzon said in a statement issued in April.
The PSE has eased prerequisites such as the track record and the operating history requirements and the amended listing rules now include guidelines for sponsor models for those who wish to list at the SME board through a sponsor company.
For the first quarter of the year, the PSE saw one IPO, one follow-on offering, two stock rights offerings, and two private placements.
The total capital raised for both primary and secondary offer shares for the period amounted to P41.63 billion.
DoubleDragon Properties Corp.’s real estate investment trust (REIT) made its “challenging” IPO debut at the local bourse in March, making it only the second REIT listing in the country so far.
Shares of DDMPR were listed at P2.25 each and as of Wednesday, its market close was at P1.95 apiece.
Just last month, the PSE and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have greenlighted Monde Nissin, Corp.’s IPO, which is slated to be listed at the main board by June 7.
Monde Nissin stocks are priced at P13.50 per common share, around 23% lower than the P17.50-price declared in its registration statement after being advised by banking partners.
The PSE also approved the follow-on offering of AC Energy Corp. after its stocks right offering in January to raise up to P16.48 billion. The tentative listing date of which is set on May 14.
For the PSE’s virtual event this month, key speakers are the following: SM Investment Corp. Chairman Jose T. Sio, Bank of the Philippine Islands President and CEO Jose Teodoro K. Limcaoco, Puregold Price Club, Inc. Director and Cosco Capital, Inc. President Leonardo B. Dayao, and Wilcon Depot, Inc. President and CEO Lorraine Belo-Cincochan.
Finance Secretary Carlos B. Dominguez III and SEC Chairman Emilio B. Aquino will also be delivering messages of support during the event.
Companies that wish to join the discussion may reach out to the PSE’s marketing services department via [email protected]. — Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte