Market warms up to SSI public offer

MANILA, Philippines - Tantoco-owned specialty retailer SSI Group Inc. said it has received strong demand both locally and abroad for its shares which are expected to be listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange by Nov. 7.

“Orders from foreign institutional buyers exceeded by several times the number of shares offered and that domestic take-up has been robust,” SSI said.

SSI started the public offer on Oct. 27 and is scheduled to end today. The country’s largest specialty retail company has set its initial public offering (IPO) price at P7.50 per share.

Before the roadshows, SSI had already secured cornerstone investors who committed to take up 34 percent of the offered shares.

The cornerstone investors include Bank of the Philippine Islands Asset Management and Trust Group, Government Service Insurance System, Havenport Asset Management Pte Ltd, Macquarie Asia New Stars Fund, MLIS – York Asian Event-Driven Ucits Fund, and York Asian Opportunities Investment Master Fund.

The IPO could raise as much as P6.5 billion on 864.2 million shares, of which approximately 80 percent are primary shares to be issued by SSI and 20 percent secondary shares from existing shareholders.

Should the over-allotment option for 129.6 million shares be fully exercised, the IPO could raise as much as P7.45 billion on a total of 993.9 million shares.

The company plans to use the proceeds to expand its specialty retail businesses, to fund additional investments in the Family Mart convenience store chain and Wellworth department stores, and to retire some debt.