IPO application of Makati firm OK’d

The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved the registration statement filed by financing firm Makati Finance Corp., paving the way for the company’s planned initial public offering to raise funds to service debt obligations and finance lending activities.

MFC is 51-percent owned by Amalgamated Investment Bancorporation, an investment house owned by a Singaporean-Filipino group that specializes in money market operations, trading, debt and equity underwriting, and mergers and acquisitions.

Based on the registration statement filed with the SEC, MFC will offer between 18.6 million and 27.7 million new shares, representing 25.18 percent to 33.39 percent of its outstanding capital stock. It expects to raise P21.76 million to P41.55 million from the IPO.

The shares will be listed on the small and medium enterprise board of the Philippine Stock Exchange. Tapped to lead underwrite the issue is Abacus Capital & Investment Corp.

Shares will be sold at a price ranging from P1.17 to P1.50 apiece. The offer price is based on a price-earning multiple of 8.32 to 11.98 times MFC’s 2002 projected earnings.

Existing stockholders of MFC have voluntarily agreed not to sell or dispose of their shareholdings for a minimum period of 365 days after the listing of the shares.

The company has earmarked about 50 percent or between P9.3 million and P18.18 million of the IPO’s net proceed for the retirement of its outstanding notes payable, which currently have an average interest rate of about 14 percent.

The remaining half will be used to fund loans provided to medical professionals. The main product of the company, Rx Cashline, accounted for approximately 90 percent of its total net loan receivables in 2001. MFCA considers itself as a "first mover" in this particular market niche. — Zinnia dela Peña