Ayala unit mulls IPO to fund expansion projects

Ayala Corp. subsidiary Integrated Microelectronics Inc. (IMI) plans to go into an initial public offering of its shares in the local stock market to raise funds for its expansion projects.

IMI group president and chief operating officer Arthur Tan said the company is just waiting for the right time to conduct an initial public offering (IPO). "The IPO is definitely in the pipeline but the stock market must be financially stable before we enter it," he said.

"We already have accomplished the first requirement and that is the financial stability. IMI is debt free and financially-clean," Tan pointed out.

Also yesterday, IMI, a joint venture between Ayala Corp. and Resins, Inc., said it plans to diversify its market for 2002 by expanding its presence in the United States and Europe.

Although IMI already accounts for a large share of Japanese contracting manufacturing requirements, Tan said the company has to look for new markets because they are already providing the high-end requirements of the major Japanese electronics companies. "Most of our clients in Japan belong to their tier 1 level and we don’t expect step level changes because that is the highest level," he said.

"We have to increase our presence in the United States and Europe because they have big potential for contract manufacturing requirements in electronics," Tan added.

Tan said IMI is adopting a cautious attitude toward its market expansion and diversification programs because of the current volatile situation in the global market, adding that the expansion strategy must be viewed on a long-term basis because of the dynamics of the market. "Our manufacturing road map will be based on the type of opportunities available in the market," said Tan.

"Our diversification program is well planned and a well-focused undertaking. It’s based not in an opportunistic manner," Tan added.

He said IMI is also forming alliances with other companies in the US and Europe as part of expanding presence in these two regions. IMI formed an alliance with Isis Surface Mounting, a Silicon Valley-based electronics manufacturing service to seek subcontracting projects and to serve as a virtual fast prototyping capability for the US market. Furthermore, IMI has also established an alliance with an Israeli company called A.L. Electronics to explore business potentials in Israel.

Tan also revealed that IMI is currently negotiating a project with a European technology company for a contract-manufacturing project. "We expect to finalize the deal by the end of July," he said.

As part of its diversification plan, Tan said IMI would also engage in the manufacture of electronic components in automotive, medical and wireless communications. He said the demand for electronic components will increase worldwide because of the proliferation of computer-based gadgets in automobiles.

IMI also wants to capitalize on the growing demand for wireless communication devices such as Bluetooth, wireless local area network, telemetry and global positioning system.

Japan remains the biggest market of IMI cornering 60 percent of the contract manufacturing projects while the remaining 40 percent is coming from the American, European and Philippine markets.– Mary Ann Reyes