GT Capital raises P14.3 B from sale of shares

MANILA, Philippines - GT Capital Holdings Inc., the investment vehicle of banking tycoon George Ty, has raised P14.3 billion through the sale of shares to institutional investors.

Fresh funds from the largest overnight placement conducted in the Philippines will allow GT Capital to acquire more shares in its automotive unit, the company said.

In a disclosure, to the stock exchange, GT Capital said its controlling shareholder Grand Titan Capital Holdings Inc. sold 23.027 million shares to institutional investors.

“The placement, which was priced at P620 per share, raised approximately P10.1 billion of primary proceeds for GT Capital and P4.2 billion of secondary proceeds for Grand Titan,” the company said.

The selling price represents an 8.38-percent discount to the stock’s closing price of P672 on Wednesday.

The sale of new shares was conducted through a top-up structure wherein Grand Titan will acquire 16.3 million new shares to be issued by GT Capital at the same price as the overnight fundraising.

GT Capital said the majority of the primary proceeds will finance the acquisition of more shares in Toyota Motor Philippines.

In October, GT Capital announced its agreement to buy an additional 30 percent stake in Toyota Motor from subsidiary Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. (Metrobank) for P9 billion. This will make GT Capital the owner of 51 percent of Toyota Motor.

“The balance of the primary proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes,” the company said.

The overnight share sale, in which UBS acted as sole book runner, increased the public ownership level of GT Capital to around 40 percent from 30 percent.

“There were approximately 100 global investors in the order book, which was more than three times oversubscribed, posting the largest ever overnight placement executed in the Philippines,” GT Capital said.

Recent overnight share sales of local firms include the P6.5-billion fundraising of grocery chain Puregold Price Club Inc. in July and the $150-million equity placement of mall and banking conglomerate SM Investments Corp. in August.

“We are extremely pleased with the continuous support and confidence that the global investor community has given to GT Capital since our initial public offering (IPO),” said GT Capital chairman Arthur Ty.