Listed Sta. Lucia Land, Inc. announced on Friday the postponement of its follow-on offering (FOO), saying it would not be in the best interest of the company and its shareholders to proceed with the offering at this time.
Sta. Lucia Land filed a letter with the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) on Nov. 4 stating that the company and China Bank Capital Corp., the issue manager, underwriter and bookrunner for the offering, had decided to defer the FOO.
The company said it undertook the FOO not just to raise funds for its operations, but also to enhance shareholder value.
“Given current market conditions and multiple common equity issuances pricing at a significant discount to their respective offer price ranges and more so to their current trading levels, the company believes that it will not be enhancing value for its shareholders if it were to agree to offer its shares at a price that is at a significant discount to the current market price,” Sta. Lucia Land said in its letter to the PSE.
The PSE previously approved the application of Sta. Lucia Land for the listing of up to three billion shares for its FOO.
The company planned to offer one billion to 2.5 billion common shares to be priced at P2.38 to P3.29 apiece, with an overallotment option of up to 500 million common shares. Its price-setting date was set on Nov. 5, Friday.
It intended to use the proceeds from the offer to partially finance its capital expenditures for new and ongoing projects, strategic land banking activities, to pay for short-term debts, and for general corporate purposes.
Sta. Lucia Land shares closed 1.38% higher at P2.94 apiece on Friday. — Arjay L. Balinbin
