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VIVA Communications, the entertainment outfit set to sell shares to
the public for the first time next month, trimmed the low-end of its
price range to give it elbow room to adjust in an extremely volatile
market, its lead underwriter said.
In a phone interview, Eduardo Francisco, BDO
Capital and Investment Corp. president, told The Manila Times that
Viva would have to adjust its lower end of the price range from
P9.72 a share to P8.10 while the higher end is kept unchanged to
give it flexibility during its planned initial public offering (IPO).
Furthermore, the company formerly known as Viva
Productions Inc. would target the retail market rather than
institutional investors such as pension, mutual and other funds,
since the firm expects support for its maiden share offering to come
mainly from individual investors. To entice its target market, Viva
would be conducting a road show in Davao today, and in Cebu and
Bacolod on January 30 and 31.
“From there, the interest in the offering
would snowball,” Francisco said.
Firms that are poised to raise capital through
the sale of shares are looking for ways to preserve expected
proceeds amid the turmoil in financial markets arising from fears of
a US recession.
Pepsi-Cola Philippines Inc. had to reset the
low-end of its price range to P3.50 per share; a tack that helped it
generate ample interest in the stock, with the issue oversubscribed.
Cebu Air Inc., the operator of budget airline
Cebu Pacific, decided to postpone its IPO altogether perhaps to the
second half of the year.
Other firms with no pressing need for funds may
follow Cebu Pacific’s lead, but those who do not have that kind of
flexibility may have to borrow funds instead, Jose Pacifico Marcelo,
First Metro Investment Corp. executive vice president, earlier said.
After its roadshow nationwide, Viva would list
at the Philippine Stock Exchange on March 5 and is expected to raise
P752 million to P1.2 billion in gross proceeds by selling 142.8
million common shares.
Other firms expected to go public during the
first half of the year include Petrolift Inc., which decided to push
back its fundraising activity for a few more weeks, San Miguel
Brewery, San Miguel Packaging Products, Gurango Software Corp. and
dB Wizards Inc.
-- Likha C. Cuevas-Miel
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