Citystate Savings eyes IPO

This year’s first prospective initial public offering (IPO) is in the works with the application of mid-sized thrift bank Citystate Savings Bank to raise as much as P128 million for its expansion.

In a prospectus filed at the Securities and Exchange Commission, CSB said it plans to offer 11.1 million new common shares priced between P10.25 to P11.55 each to be listed and traded at the second board of the Philippine Stock Exchange. The IPO will be lead managed and underwritten by Abacus Capital & Investment Corp.

The offer shares will represent 25.17 percent of the bank’s issued and capital outstanding capital stock of 44.1 million common shares, with a par value of P10 per share.

Registered as a bank entity on May 20, 1997, CSB was incorporated by a group of Filipino businessmen led by Col. Antonio L. Cabangon-Chua and Alfredo G. Siy. It was granted a Bangko Sentral license to operate as a thrift bank on August 7 of the same year and has increased its authorized capital to P1 billion.

CSB began commercial operations in 1997 with the opening of its first branch in Chino Roces Avenue in Makati, expanding to a total of 12 branches since then, including its head office at the Citystate Center Building along Shaw Blvd. in Pasig. Nine (9) of its branches are in Metro Manila, two are in Bulacan and one in Cebu City.

Cabangon-Chua is the chairman of the ALC Group of Companies, a diversified conglomerate involved in insurance and insurance brokerage through the Fortune Group of Companies, motor vehicle dealership through Gencars Inc. and real estate development. Siy, on the other hand, is the chairman of the Ever Fortune Real Estate Group, Fortune Net and Twine Manufacturing Corp., and Philippine Fishing Gear Industries, among others. – Conrado Diaz Jr.