Highlands Prime sets IPO

Highlands Prime Leisure Properties Inc., the spin-off property unit of Belle Corp., will start its initial public offering (IPO) and listing at the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) next month, the third issue to break into the stock market so far this year.

In a circular to brokers, the PSE said Highlands will commence its IPO on April 8 and wrap it up after a week, taking into consideration the April 23 targeted listing date.

With its scheduled listing, Highlands will be the third stock to test the equities market in 2002 following the listing of Citystate Savings Bank in early January and the upcoming listing on April 2 of Salcon Power Corp.

Another IPO candidate, Tambunting Financial Services (TFS) Inc., was set to list on April 10 but decided to postpone the offering later this year or early next year.

Highlands will offer a total of nearly 500 million common shares, or about 27 percent of the company’s total outstanding stocks, broken down into about 94 million primary shares and over 355 million secondary shares, or the approximately 21-percent stake owned by selling shareholder Belle Corp.

At P2.13 per share, representing a price-earnings multiple of 101.41 times projected 2002 earnings, the offering will generate P905.29 million in net proceeds, a big bulk (about P654 million) of which will go into the debt service payments, including principal and interest, of Belle Corp.

The rest of the IPO proceeds will be used to finance future projects of Tagaytay Highlands and Tagaytay Midlands (P182.1 million); general corporate purposes of Highlands (P10.67 million); and projects, working capital and other corporate matters of Belle Corp. (P58.84 million).

BDO Capital & Investment Corp. is issue manager and lead underwrite for the following.

After the offering, Belle Corp. will give way to retail magnate Henry Sy’s SM Investments Corp., the assignee of Sysmart Corp. for the acquisition of a 51-percent block or majority ownership of Highlands.

In July last year, Sysmart entered into a memorandum of agreement with Belle for the purchase of the controlling shareholdings for Apprimately P2.5 billion. Sy, who also owns 20 percent of Belle, purchased the shares at P2.33 each.