Top Line eyes much lower proceeds from IPO

MANILA, Philippines — Top Line Business Development Corp. is looking to raise about P900 million from its upcoming initial public offering (IPO) eyed in the second quarter, significantly lower than the previously targeted proceeds of as much as P3.2 billion.

Top Line said the adjustments were prompted by discussions with potential institutional investors seeking block investments.

“We appreciate the interest shown by potential investors in supporting our expansion and growth. As such, we’ve adjusted our offer structure to reflect our adjusted capital requirements and at the same time maintain regulatory compliance,” Top Line chairman president and CEO Erik Lim said.

The company said it would now offer up to 2.15 billion primary common shares with an overallotment option of up to 214.84 million secondary shares.

Assuming the full exercise of the overallotment option, the shares owned by the public will be approximately 22 percent.

Top Line last year intended to offer to the public up to 3.68 billion primary common shares with an overallotment option of up to 368.31 million secondary common shares.

Given the adjustment, the Cebu-based company has also decided to revise the indicative offer price from up to P0.78 per share originally to up to P0.38 per share, subject to a bookbuilding process.

With the new offer price of up to P0.38 per share, Top Line’s total offering, which includes both firm and overallotment option shares, will amount to around P900 million.

The revised offer structure will position Top Line for strong momentum in the public markets, according to its underwriters.

“We believe that the revised offer structure makes this IPO an attractive investment opportunity for investors seeking strong value and growth given the company’s compounded annual revenue growth rate of more than 49 percent from 2021 to 2023 – outpacing the growth of constituent companies of the Philippine Stock Exchange index,” Investment & Capital Corp. of the Philippines, the company’s issue manager, joint lead underwriter and joint bookrunner, said.