EasyCall raises capital by P100M

EasyCall Communication Philippines Inc. (ECPI) will expand its capital base by P100 million to accommodate the private placement of its new strategic investor and enable other stockholders to subscribe to a rights offering to preserve the level of their shareholdings.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, ECPI corporate information officer Hazel Custodio said the company’s board has approved the increase in their authorized capital from P200 million to P300 million with a par value of P1 per share.

The frontrunner in the slowly declining paging business, ECPI has resorted to the capital raising scheme due to its immediate need to finance its new thrust — its transformation and expansion into a contact center, data center and other IT-enabled outsourcing services.

In the six-month period ending June this year, ECPI posted a net loss of P371.92 million, a sharp drop from a P60.3-million net income a year earlier.

With the additional share issue, ECPI’s controlling shareholders (McMail Inc., Matrix Telecoms Asia and Modesto Cervantes) will waive their rights to subscribe to the new shares in favor of Global E-Business Solutions Inc., the IT arm of the Transnational Diversified Group (TDG) of the Delgado family.

Based on their agreement signed last month, GEBSI will subscribe to 52 million new ECPI shares at P1 each, instantly making it a 33-percent stakeholder in the paging operator.

The agreement also includes an option to exercise 30 million fresh subscription warrants at a strike price of P1.15 each within three years after issuance. This option would expand GEBSI’s exposure in ECPI to 42 percent.