8990 Holdings to raise P13B from follow-on share offer

MANILA, Philippines - Low-cost housing developer 8990 Holdings Inc., has secured the corporate regulator’s approval to raise as much as P13 billion from a follow-on share sale.

The property firm plans to sell the shares late this month, in the middle of timid trading in the local stock exchange.

In an en banc decision, the Securities and Exchange Commission allowed 8990 Holdings to sell 1.034 billion shares at a maximum offer price of P12.70 each, for a total transaction value of P13.13 billion.

Specifically, 8990 Holdings will offer 517.31 million new shares while existing stockholders will unload  a similar volume of 517.31 million shares.

“The company estimates that its net proceeds from the primary offer will approximately be P6.35 billion after deducting the applicable underwriting discounts, commissions and expenses,” 8990 Holdings said.

Based on the company’s timetable, the offer period will run from Jan. 30 to Feb. 14, with the shares to be listed on Feb. 21.

“8990 Holdings intends to use the net proceeds from the offer for additional investment in subsidiaries, to fund their landbanking and working capital requirements including general corporate purposes,” the company said.

In particular, it allotted P2.5 billion to acquire a 13-hectare property along Ortigas Ave. Extension in Pasig City and a 30-hectare lot in Davao City.

It will also spend P2.5 billion for general working capital requirements and P1.4 billion for general corporate purposes.

The property firm is into mass housing projects under brands Deca Homes for horizontal projects and Urban Homes for vertical projects.

In October, the SEC approved the transformation of  listed shell company IP Converge Data Center Inc. into 8990 Holdings. The company also increased its authorized capital to P7 billion.

Since starting its mass housing business in 2003, 8990 Holdings has completed 11 projects and sold 22,130 housing units in Luzon (Angeles, and Cavite), Visayas (Cebu and Iloilo), and Mindanao (Tagum and Davao).

8990 Holdings is presently developing 15 projects in Cebu, Davao, Iloilo, Clark, Pampanga and other major hubs in the Philippines.

In January to September last year, earnings of 8990 Holdings hit P2.1 billion, up 64 percent from P1.28 billion a year earlier. In the third quarter alone, the property developer’s income almost doubled to P589 million while sales rose 27.6 percent to P1.23 billion.

Apart from housing, 8990 Holdings is also in the business of resort and hotel development under the time share membership brand Azalea. It is also involved in the Deca Wake Board Park in Angeles and Davao.