Del Monte adjusts timetable for $180-M stock rights

MANILA, Philippines - Food processing giant Del Monte Pacific Ltd. (DMPL) has revised the timetable of its planned stock rights offering that will be simultaneously conducted in the Philippines and Singapore.

In a disclosure to the local bourse, DMPL said the schedule of its $180-million stock rights offering of ordinary shares has now been moved to a slightly later date next month.

DMPL said the offer period would now run from Feb.10 to Feb. 26. The earlier plan was for the offer to start on Feb. 5 and end on Feb. 23.

Likewise, listing of the shares in both the Philippine Stock Exchange and the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Ltd. has been changed to March 9 from an earlier tentative date of March 4.

 “Please be advised that the timetable we provided earlier was only indicative of the timing of the company’s receipt of the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Ltd.’s (SGX-ST) approval in principle for the Singapore rights offer could only be estimated,” DMPL said.

 “Based on our current assessment, we expect to obtain the SGX-ST’s approval in principle on Jan. 28,” the firm listed in Singapore and the Philippines added.

DMPL is looking at gross proceeds of up to $180 million from the stock rights offer of up to 641.90 million new ordinary shares held by its shareholders.

One rights share will be offered for every 2.029 ordinary shares held by an existing investor.

Proceeds of the proposed rights issue will be used to repay the $165-million bridging facility from the Bank of the Philippine Islands that it had obtained to partially finance the acquisition of Del Monte Foods Inc. (DMFI), the consumer food business of US-based Del Monte Corp., last year.

Last week DMPL decided to defer its $360-million preferred shares sale in Singapore, another fund raising seen to refinance the company’s bridge loan with BDO Unibank, Inc. used to partially fund the company’s acquisition of DMFI.

DMPL cited weak global market conditions as a reason for its decision.