Seaoil mulls IPO to raise funds for expansion

Seaoil Philippines Inc., one of the country’s most aggressive small oil players, is considering going public to take advantage of bullish stock market and raise funds for future expansion initiatives.

"We’re evaluating the possibility of going public, looking at the timing of the market. Certainly now is a good time to list in the stock market but we’re still reviewing our options. If the market is still bullish and the economy continues to do well, then there is a big possibility we would go for it," Seaoil president Francis Glenn Yu told reporters at the sidelines of oil and mining briefing held at the Philippine Stock Exchange the other day.

Yu said the company’s maiden offering of shares to the public may take place in the second half of next year.

The oil deregulation law, enacted in 1998, requires oil refiners to list at least 10 percent of their outstanding shares on the local bourse by 2001. Poor market conditions have, however, delayed their mandated public offerings.

Among the oil refiners in the country, only Petron Corp. is listed at the stock exchange.

Yu said the company is now in talks with several investment houses to pick a financial advisor for the stock offer.

Seaoil was incorporated in 1996, making it the first independent petroleum player (other than the Big 3 — Petron, Shell and Caltex) to open a gasoline retail station. It now employs over 500 personnel and contributes over one percent of the country’s annual downstream oil industry’s revenue of P240 billion.

Yu said the company now has a total of 107 gasoline service stations and is building 14 more.

The new stations, he said, are located at strategic locations nationwide, consistent with the company’s aim to be the supplier of choice for the A, B, C and D market segments.

Seaoil’s goal is to become a major player in the oil industry with a retail fuel outlet at almost every corner of the major thoroughfares. To achieve this goal, the company is hoping to acquire a major oil firm.