Regulators clear fundraising plans of 3 property firms

MANILA, Philippines — Corporate regulators have greenlighted the planned fundraising activities of three property firms to pay old debts and finance their investment plans. 

In a statement on Wednesday, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said it approved during an en banc meeting on October 27 the planned public offerings of Filinvest Land Inc., Megawide Construction Corp. and Cityland Development Corp.

The trio add to a growing list of companies tapping the financial markets to raise cash and protect their balance sheets from a financial fallout brought by the pandemic and resulting economic recession.

Under Filinvest Land's plan, the company will sell 3-year and 5.5-year debt papers cumulatively worth P6.75 billion, which could be increased by P2.25 billion if investor demand is high. The Gotianun-led company expects to net a maximum of P8.88 billion from the offer should the oversubscription option be fully exercised.

"The proceeds will be used to refinance Filinvest’s maturing debt and to fund its capital expenditures and general corporate requirements," regulators said.

For its part, Megawide will offer 30 million non-voting perpetual Series 2 Preferred Shares to the public at P100 each. The same can be topped up by up to 10 million more shares if investors swamp the offer. 

Megawide expects to raise P4.96 billion from the share sale. Proceeds will be used to partially finance existing projects, including big-ticket ones like Mactan-Cebu International Airport and Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange.

Meanwhile, Cityland is looking at raising P1.39 billion by floating commercial papers "to partially finance the construction of the company’s projects and to pay its maturing notes," regulators said.

"Additionally, the Commission has approved Cityland’s request for exemption from the submission of an underwriting agreement for the offer," they added.

On Wednesday, shares at Filinvest Land were unchanged at P0.97 each when market closed. Megawide shares dropped 1.59% to P7.43 apiece, while Cityland's declined a faster 2.47% to end trading at P0.79 each. The main benchmark dipped 0.58% at close.