SEC approves Bank of Commerce IPO, SMC bond offering
BUTUAN CITY -- The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has considered favorably the initial public offering (IPO) by Bank of Commerce and fixed-rate bond offering by San Miguel Corporation (SMC).
Bank of Commerce will offer to the public up to 280,602,800 common shares priced at up to P12.50 per share. The shares will be listed on the Main Board of the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).
The bank expects to net about P3.34 billion from the offer. Proceeds will be used to fund the bank’s lending activities and finance capital expenditure requirements, in connection with upgrading its automated teller machine (ATM) fleet and core banking system. Any remaining proceeds will be used for the acquisition of investment securities to meet regulatory liquidity requirements.
A subsidiary of SMC, Bank of Commerce provides banking products and services in deposit, commercial loans, credit card services, consumer banking, corporate banking, treasury, asset management, transaction banking, and trusts and investments. It has a network of 140 branches and 257 ATMs, as of September 30, 2021.
The IPO will run from March 7 to 15, with listing on the PSE scheduled for March 23, according to the latest timetable submitted by the bank to the SEC.
Bank of Commerce engaged BDO Capital & Investment Corporation, China Bank Capital Corporation, Philippine Commercial Capital, Inc. (PCCI), and PNB Capital Investment Corporation as the joint issue managers, joint lead underwriters, and joint bookrunners for the transaction.
SMC may issue the P60-billion fixed-rate bonds in one or more tranches within three years.
For the first tranche, the listed conglomerate will offer to the public up to P25 billion of five-year Series J bonds due 2027, with an over-allotment option of up to P5 billion of seven-year Series K bonds due 2029.
Assuming the overallotment option is fully exercised, SMC could net up to P29,632,386,875 from the offer. Proceeds will be used for the refinancing of short-term loan facilities of the company and for other general corporate purposes.
The bonds comprising the first tranche will be offered at face value and will be listed on the Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp. on March 1, based on the latest timetable sent to the SEC.
SMC tapped BDO Capital and China Bank Capital as joint issue managers for the offering. They will work alongside BPI Capital Corporation, PCCI, PNB Capital, RCBC Capital Corporation, and SB Capital Investment Corporation as joint lead underwriters and bookrunners. (SEC/PIA-Caraga)
