The infrastructure engineering and consulting company, EEI [EEI 6.40], submitted its Preliminary Terms and Conditions document to the public about its plans to sell up to 60 million preferred shares (40 million in a “firm” offer, plus 20 million over-allotment option) at P100/share, split between two tickers (“EEIPA” and “EEIPB”) that differ slightly in terms of their dividend rate and step-up date. The pricing date was scheduled for yesterday, so we should hear the final dividend rates today.
Both the Series A and Series B shares will be cumulative, non-voting, non-participating, non-convertible, redeemable, and non-reissuable (for an explanation of these terms, take a look at my “Preferred Shares 101” report). The Series A step-up date is 3.5 years from listing, and the Series B setup-up is 5.5 years from listing. Both will issue cash dividends quarterly, on March 23, June 23, September 23, and December 23. The dates have been added to the MB Calendar.
MB BOTTOM-LINE
This is EEI planning to “go full blast next year”. They want to fast-track the completion of existing projects and ramp up workers and equipment to take on new projects both here and abroad.
A recent Manila Bulletin article said that EEI will look to hire 10,000 workers in 2022 (an increase of more than 40% of its total workforce), and try to “take advantage” of all the projects that will come up for bidding as the construction industry (according to EEI) “picks up” and “flexes its muscles” as “COVID-19 restrictions are relaxed”.
Those statements were published on December 1, so it will be interesting to see how the Omicron variant news settles out over the next few weeks to get a glimpse into how this variant might impact the construction industry (and EEI’s plans).
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