SMC eyes P21 B from re-issuance of preferred shares

MANILA, Philippines - Food to infrastructure conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) is set to raise P21 billion from the re-issuance and private placement of 300 million preferred shares.

In a regulatory filing, SMC said it has entered into and executed subscription agreements with three corporate investors for the private placement and purchase of 300 million of its Series 1 preferred shares at P75 apiece.

The preferred shares carry a dividend rate of 5.635 per annum and would be redeemable at the option of SMC three years from the date of the issuance.

The three investors which subscribed to the shares are Metroplex Holdings Corp., Lucena Holdings Corp., and Gingoog Holdings Corp.

Metroplex subscribed to 106.17 million shares, while Lucena Holdings and Gingoog Holdings purchased 89.41 million and 83.82 million shares, respectively.

All three companies are existing stockholders of SMC. Metroplex Holdings currently owns 450,000 preferred shares of SMC, Lucena Holdings has 650,000 and Gingoog Holdings has one million.

 “The closing and full payment of the purchase price under the subscription agreements shall be subject to the fulfillment of the conditions,” SMC said.

A private placement is a direct offering of securities to certain investors, catering mostly to institutional investors such as insurance companies and pension funds.

The shares that were re-issued by SMC were originally issued in 2009. The conglomerate redeemed Series 1 of its preferred shares at P75 per share in September 2012.

SMC is the country’s most diversified conglomerate with investments in beer, liquor, food, power, oil refining and retailing, infrastructure and packaging.