The Rebisco-owned bank, Asia United Bank (AUB), will be the second bank and the second company this year to have an initial public offering (IPO).
The bank recently announced that it will be offering more than 88 million shares to the public for the first time, priced at P95 per share.
The IPO will yield the company a maximum of P8.36 billion. Proceeds are set to be used for acquisitions and payments for branch licenses, expansion of branch network, information technology projects, and general corporate purposes.
Shares will be listed and will start trading on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) in May 17.
2nd IPO of the year
AUB is following the lead of Philippine Business Bank (PBB), which debuted on the PSE in February 19.
The Zest-O group thrift bank raised P3.19 billion by issuing to the public 101.44 million share, representing 30% public ownership.
PBB’s initial offer price was set at P31.50 and closed at P36.35 on its first trading day. As of May 6, 2013, PBB shares were trading at P34.80 per share.
Public Float
The AUB IPO offering consists of the issuance of 80 million primary shares, plus an overallotment option of 8 million shares.
Post-IPO, the company’s public float, or the percentage of shares in the hands of the public, will be 25%.
The P95 offer price is between the indicative price range of P80 to P110 announced by the company during the book building period in April.
Underwriters
During the international roadshow, 30% of the shares were offered to local investors while 70% of the shares were to be sold to foreign investors. According to UBS AG (Hong Kong division), one of the company’s IPO underwriters, the IPO was “five times oversubscribed”.
UBS AG and Credit Suisse (Singapore) were tapped as joint bookrunners and joint lead managers for the IPO. Locally, BDO Capital & Investment Corp. and First Metro Investment Corp. (FMIC) will be the domestic lead underwriters.
Company Info
AUB is 44% owned by Republic Biscuit Corp. (Rebisco), one of the Philippines’ leading manufacturer, distributor, and exporter of snack food products.
Other major shareholders include Kuo Yu Philippines Holdings Inc., Lambda Holdings Corporation, and Magis Equity Ventures of Singapore.
The bank has a total of 107 branches nationwide at the end of 2012.
Its assets totaled P64.94 billion in 2012. Last year, the bank posted net income of P1.12 billion, an 18% increase from P1.12 billion registered in 2011, on the basis of higher trading and securities gain.
In the first quarter of 2013, AUB booked net income of P523 million, higher than the P323 million earned in the same period last year.
How to invest in AUB IPO
If you are interested in buying AUB shares during the IPO, contact your broker for more information. Brokers usually post details of IPO announcements on their websites. In most cases, you just need to fill out a form and deposit the payment in order to participate in the IPO.
Disclaimer: This article is not to be construed as an offer, invitation, solicitation, advertisement, inducement or representation of any kind. PinoyMoneyTalk is not, in any way, related to the bank or its underwriters and does not stand to gain any benefit related to the bank’s IPO by making this post. Exercise due diligence and discerning judgment before investing in any kind of securities. Take note that past performance is not and cannot be a guarantee of future performance, and that investing may lead to a possible loss of capital.
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