Ayala raising P15B from sale of preferred shares

MANILA, Philippines - The country’s oldest conglomerate, Ayala Corp. (AC), is planning to raise P15 billion in fresh funds through the sale of preferred shares.

In a disclosure yesterday, AC said its board of directors approved the re-issuance and offering of up to 30 million preferred Class B shares at P500 per share.

AC said the new series of Class B shares will be offered with a fixed quarterly dividend rate and are structured as perpetual equity securities that have preference in the payment of dividends.

“The approval has authorized the setting of the benchmark rate prior to the issue date that shall be based on either the five-year or seven-year PDST-R2 benchmark plus a spread to be determined at such time,” the company said.

“Payment of current dividends shall be cumulative. This series of the preferred shares shall be non-convertible and shall have no voting and pre-emptive rights,” AC added.

BPI Capital Corp. has been tapped as the issue manager for the share sale which is still subject to regulatory approvals.

The conglomerate said the Class B shares will be listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange, adding that it will apply to use a stock symbol that will readily distinguish the new series from the current outstanding series of preferred Class B shares that currently trade under the symbol ACPB.

AC’s net income stood at P9.8 billion in the first half of the year, up 34 percent from a year ago on the back of a solid performance of its core businesses, particularly Ayala Land. Globe Telecom and Manila Water.

The group earlier vowed to invest a total of $1 billion in energy and infrastructure projects through 2016.

It recently won the Light Rail Transit-1 extension project in partnership with the Metro Pacific Group, and was the highest complying bidder, together with the Aboitiz Group, for the Cavite-Laguna Expressway project.