SMIC raises $150M from share offer

MANILA, Philippines - Retail tycoon Henry Sy’s holding firm SM Investments Corp. (SMIC) raised $150 million from an overnight top-up placement of shares to institutional investors, a top company official said.

In a text message, SMIC chief financial officer Jose T. Sio said the company sold 9.1 million shares at P700 apiece, a 6.04 percent discount to the stock’s closing price Thursday.

The issue, arranged by Macquarie Capital (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., comes just seven months after SMIC sold $250 million worth of convertible bonds.

Sources said the deal was well oversubscribed, attracting around 50 investors.

Under a top-up offering, controlling shareholders will lend out secondary shares for sale and then subscribe to the same number of shares at the same price to ensure that all the money will go to the company.

“Apart from raising additional funds for the company, the top-up is meant to further enhance the free float and liquidity of SMIC shares,” the firm said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange.

SMIC intends to use proceeds from the placement to refinance some of its existing obligations and for general corporate purposes.

The Philippines has become one of the world’s fastest-growing markets, with the main index posting a 22 percent gain so far this year.

SMIC’s leading position in several businesses, including retail and banking, makes it a diversified play on the local economy as a whole.

From the first ShoeMart store which opened in 1958, the SM Group has since evolved into a group of companies with five core businesses: shopping mall development and management (SM Prime), retail (SM Department Stores, SM Supermarkets, SM Hypermarkets and SaveMore stores), financial services (BDO Unibank Inc. and China Banking Corp.), real estate development and tourism (SM Land Inc., SM Development Corp., Costa Del Hamilo Inc. and Highlands Prime Inc.), and hotels and conventions (SM Hotels, SMX Convention Specialists, Hotel Specialists - Tagaytay, Cebu and Pico).

SMIC grew its first semester earnings 13 percent this year to P10.9 billion as revenues expanded 14 percent to P105.2 billion.