JTH Davies to raise P4.5B from follow-on share offer

MANILA, Philippines - JTH Davies Holdings Inc. plans to raise as much as P4.5 billion from the sale of up to three billion shares, based on its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

In its preliminary prospectus, JTH Davies said it intends to sell 2.818 billion shares to international and domestic investors at P1.50 each. In the case of strong demand, the company has set aside additional shares for sale to the public.

UBS was appointed as sole international bookrunner, global coordinator and lead manager for both local and international offerings.

The international offering will comprise up to 1.972 billion shares while as much as 845.4 million shares will be sold to local investors.

The offer price will be determined based on a book-building process and from discussion between the company and UBS.

The shares to be issued will come from an increase in its authorized capital from 1.103 billion shares to 10 billion shares with an aggregate par value of P5 billion.

The follow-on offering is also in line with the group’s efforts to comply with the local bourse’s minimum public ownership of 10 percent.

Proceeds from the share sale will be used to fund capital expenditures for 2013 and for general corporate purposes.

The reorganization will result in the change of its corporate name to STI Holdings Inc., which is seen to become the largest pure education play on the exchange.

Businessman Eusebio Tanco is consolidating all his education assets — the STI chain of schools, a 40 percent stake in Philippine Women’s University and iAcademy – under JTH.

Also to be injected into JTH is a 20 percent interest in STI Investments, which holds Tanco’s strategic investment in Philplans, a leading pre-need savings program with plans dedicated to education, and Philcare.

Tanco’s group operates the country’s largest private network of educational institutions through its 65 STI-branded college campuses and 20 eduational centers, two non-branded colleges and one university.

The group will have a management agreement with PWU, a leading autonomous educational university that provides programs including nursing, pharmacy, business and fine arts.

The group is currently constructing new facilities in Calamba, Lucena, Davao, Cebu, Cagayan de Oro and possibly, Batangas.

Aside from educational services, is also engaged in mining, pre-need products, port operations and gaming.