Ayala Corp. raises $275M via top-up placement of shares

MANILA, Philippines - Ayala Corp. (AC) has raised $275 million from the sale of common shares through a top-up placement, bringing in fresh funding for its power and infrastructure projects.

In its disclosure to the stock exchange, the country’s oldest conglomerate said it completed the sale of 18.779 million common shares at P660 apiece or a 5.2 percent discount to the stock’s 30-day average.

“The top-up placement entails our issuance of equal number of new shares at the same price, with Mermac Inc. as the seller in the placement tranche and subscriber in the subscription tranche,” AC said.

AC said the placement was 2.35 times oversubscribed with strong demand coming from long-only funds and a good mix of investors coming from Asia, Europe and the US.

The company said Philippine orders were also solid as reflected  by demand from local institutional investors.   

With the top-up placement completed, AC’s public float has increased to over 40 percent from its previous 38.23 percent.

AC said it intends to use the proceeds for investments in power and infrastructure projects, areas which the Ayala Group considers as its emerging businesses.

“Proceeds raised from this placement will allow Ayala to expand into business lines that will result in robust and sustainable earnings for the company.  At the same time, this equity issuance further strengthens the balance sheet of the company,” said Delfin C. Gonzalez Jr., AC chief finance officer.

The new shares to be issued under the subscription tranche are part of the carved-out shares, with the issuance exempted from pre-emptive rights, the conglomerate reported.

AC said it would apply for the listing in the Philippine Stock Exchange of the shares making up the subscription tranche “as soon as practicable.”

CLSA Ltd, which served as sole global coordinator of the transaction, was tapped together with Credit Suisse (Singapore) Ltd as joint bookrunners and placement agents. BPI Capital Corp., meanwhile, served as domestic bookrunner and placement agent.