Globe set to retire PDRs

After a two-year float, Ayala-owned Globe Telecom Inc. will be retiring its Philippine Deposit Receipts (PDRs) at the Philippine Stock Exchange in a week’s time.

In an advisory, Globe said the PDRs – issued by the special purpose vehicle Globe Telecom Holdings Inc. in October 2000 – will expire on July 15 and will be simultaneously delisted on the trading floor.

GTHI is jointly owned by Globe Telecom, whose parent firm is Ayala Corp., and its foreign partner Singapore Telecom International Pte. Ltd.

Globe issued the PDRs, an instrument which could later be converted into common shares, to raise about $100 million for the company’s capital build-up on its wireless phone business.

Priced then at P725 each, the PDR offering was able to generate funds from international investors, who would otherwise be legally constrained to limit their holdings to 40 percent of a local telecom company.

The PDRs yesterday closed at P620, up P10 from the previous day. There are over 12 million outstanding PDRs in the market, corresponding to a total value of about P7.6 billion. – Conrado Diaz Jr.