Synergy Grid and Development Philippines Inc., which controls the sole operator of the country’s power transmission lines, has filed for a P28.85-billion follow-on offering to increase its public ownership and lift the trading suspension imposed by the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).
According to its registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Synergy Grid will offer some 1.05 billion common shares and an over-allotment option of 101 million common shares at an indicative price of P15 to P25 apiece.
Net proceeds from the offer will be used to subscribe to non-voting preferred shares to be issued by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).
The company engaged BofA Securities, J.P. Morgan Securities plc, and UBS AG Singapore Branch as the joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners for the offer. BDO Capital and Investment Corp. will serve as sole domestic coordinator and, together with BPI Capital Corp. and PNB Capital and Investment Corp., as joint domestic lead underwriter and joint bookrunner for the transaction.
Synergy Grid is a holding company and its sole operating asset is the NGCP. The company, jointly owned by Henry T. Sy Jr. and Roberto G. Coyuito Jr., through their respective companies OneTaipan Holdings Inc. and Pacifica21 Holdings Inc., exercises control over 60 percent of the outstanding capital stock of NGCP.
Since late May, the company’s shares at the PSE were suspended for trading after its free float level fell to 0.25 percent following the consolidation of the shareholdings of Sy and Coyiuto.
Synergy Grid shares were last traded at P395.80 apiece on May 28.
The follow-on offering will increase the company’s free float level to 20 percent. The PSE requires listed firms to maintain a public float level of 20 percent.
On August 10, the SEC has approved the company’s application to increase its capital stock to 5.3 billion common shares from 5.05 billion common shares, or an increase of 250 million common shares.
The firm’s shares will be issued out of Synergy Grid’s unissued common shares, of which 900.13 million are part of its unissued authorized capital stock while the remaining 153.35 offer shares will be issued from the capital increase. The rest will come from the holdings of the two majority owners.
Assuming the over-allotment option has been exercised, Sy’s holdings at Synergy Grid will be reduced to 39.95 percent from 49.93 percent, while Coyiuto’s ownership will slide to 39.85 percent from 49.81 percent.
For the first semester, Synergy Grid posted an attributable income of P5.01 billion, down by half from last year’s P9.93 billion. Revenues for the period, meanwhile, fell to P24.18 million from last year’s P48.6 million.