Travellers Int’l slates P42-B IPO this month

MANILA, Philippines - Travellers International Hotel Group Inc. is pursuing its P42-billion initial public offering (IPO) this month, nearly three months since announcing the deferment of its share sale.

In memorandum to the stock exchange, the hotel and casino operator said it will push through with its plan to list in the local bourse.

Travellers Group, the operator of Resorts World Manila, said it will sell 1.573 billion primary shares and another 235.98 million shares under an overallotment option to cater to robust demand.

Despite recent market volatility, Travellers Group retained its maximum offer price guidance at P23.38 per share.

This will allow the company to raise as much as P36.78 billion for the primary offering and up to P42.29 billion including the overallotment option.

The selling price will be finalized on Oct. 17, which will be followed by the domestic offering on Oct. 22-29. Listing date and start of trading in the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) is scheduled on Nov. 5, Travellers Group said.

Early in July, Travellers Group decided to postpone its IPO due to the extreme market volatility.

“The company intends to use the proceeds of the primary offer for general corporate purposes, including, but not limited to, financing capital and project expenditures for its Phase 2 and Phase 3 expansion plans as well as equipment leases and purchases,” Travellers Group said.

Travellers Group, a joint venture between the world’s third-largest cruise line operator Genting Hong Kong and local conglomerate Alliance Global Group Inc., of tycoon Andrew Tan, will spend around $600 million as it pursues Phase 2 and 3 of Resorts World Manila.

Specifically, the hotel and casino operator will complete the 5,000-seat convention center with function rooms in 2014, the Marriott Hotel expansion in 2015, and new hotels Hilton and Sheraton in 2016.

Phase 2 and 3 will allow Travellers Group to increase retail space by 60 percent and add 1,100 rooms to the existing 1,226 rooms in Resorts World Manila’s Maxim’s, Marriott and Remington hotels.

To date, the gaming facilities in the 12-hectare Resorts

World Manila is composed of 300 tables and more than 1,800 slot machines.

For the IPO, Travellers Group said it hired CIMB Securities (Singapore), Maybank Kim Eng Securities (Singapore), Merrill Lynch (Singapore), Religare Capital Markets Hong Kong and UBS AG as

joint global coordinators.

Joint international co-bookrunners are CLSA Ltd., Credit Suisse (Singapore) and Morgan Stanley & Co. International while domestic lead underwriters are BDO Capital & Investment Corp., Maybank ATR Kim Eng Capital Partners and UBS Investments Philippines.

Aside from Resorts World Manila, Travellers Group is also the company behind the $1.1-billion Resorts World Bayshore that will be opened in 2017, at the earliest.

The new casino complex is located in Entertainment City, a 120-hectare property reclaimed from Manila Bay.