Wilcon sets tight IPO price range

MANILA, Philippines - Wilcon Depot Inc. has set a tight price range of P5 to P5.68 per share for its planned initial public offering (IPO) slated on March 31.

With that price range, Wilcon is expected to raise about P6.97 billion to P7.92 billion from an offer of 1.393 billion primary shares.

The offer shares will represent 34 percent of the company’s outstanding common shares post-offer.

The final offer price will be announced on March 17 while the offer period will start on March 20 and run until March 24. It will use the ticker symbol “WLCON when it debuts on the main board of the PSE.

Issue manager First Metro Investment Corp. (FMIC) anticipates strong demand for Wilcon Depot’s offering, citing the company’s growth story and the promising opportunities in the home improvements and construction supply retailing space.

“The company is expected to benefit from heightened public and private construction activities in the country, healthy demand for housing units due to ever-expanding domestic household formation, and the continued dynamic growth of the Philippine economy. This IPO is also the first this year, and for investors who have long been waiting for a singularly exceptional investment opportunity, this is it,” said FMIC executive vice president and head of investment banking Justino Juan Ocampo.

Apart from FMIC, Wilcon has tapped BDO Capital & Investment Corp. and RCBC Capital Corp.as joint lead underwriters for the IPO.

Wilcon chairman William Belo said the company would use proceeds from the offer to expand in fast growing cities outside Metro Manila.

“We opened our first branch this year in Butuan last January. We plan to build about 28 more stores, seven of them to open this year in Bacolod, Cagayan de Oro, Tacloban, Silang, General Trias and other areas that have high growth potential,” Belo said.

In the first nine months of 2016, the company reported a 50 percent jump in net income to P483 million on the back of a 10-percent hike in sales.

At present, the company has a network of 37 stores nationwide and accounts for 70 percent of the market in its segment.

The offer shares will represent 34 percent of the company’s outstanding common shares post-offer.