Romero-owned Globalport eyes up to $150M from follow-on offering

MANILA, Philippines - Publicly-listed Globalport 900, majority owned by the Romero Group, said it plans to raise up to $150 million before the end of the year from a follow-on offering of its shares to the public.

Globalport 900 chairman and president Michael Romero told The STAR that proceeds from the offer will be used to finance the acquisition and operation of both domestic and foreign-based seaports.

Romero, whose privately owned investment company Sultan 900 Capital Inc. earlier acquired Mic Holdings (renamed Globalport 900), revealed that $100 million will be for the acquisition of six domestic ports while another $100 million will be for foreign ports.

In addition to the secondary offering, Romero said they are also in talks with foreign groups for possible fund infusion of between $50 million to $100 million.

Globalport has increased its authorized capitalization to P2.5 billion and plans to raise this to as much as P4 billion.

Romero also revealed that Phase I of the modernization and redevelopment of Manila North Harbor will commence this year with the start of the construction of Terminal I or the container terminal. The contract to construct Terminal 1 has been awarded to construction company FF Cruz.

The second terminal, or the passenger terminal, will follow suit, he said.

Mic Holdings was acquired by Sultan 900 from the group of businessman Antonio “Tonyboy” Cojuangco for P175 million. Plans are to consolidate Romero’s existing port operations which include Harbour Centre and Manila North Harbor into Mic.

Sultan 900 now owns 98.8 percent of Globalport. The follow-on offering will also help the company increase its public float.

Romero said they plan to acquire new companies, which include those that are into ports, information technology, and logistics.

He disclosed that in addition to their two existing port operations in Manila, Harbour Centre is eyeing the acquisition of six others.

He also said that they are participating in biddings to operate international ports.

Romero, president of Harbour Centre Ports Terminal Inc. (HCPTI) and chairman of Manila North Harbour Ports Terminal Inc. (MNHPI), said that they are being “swarmed” with offers from foreign investors as well as port operators who want to invest or enter into joint venture agreements with his group.

“At the same time, we are also offering to enter into partnerships or acquire both domestic and foreign ports,” he disclosed.

Romero earlier said that the modernization program for North Harbor, the country’s biggest and busiest domestic port, is on schedule.

He said that they plan to finish Phase I in three to four years. This will raise their capacity at North Harbor from 630,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) last year to as much as 1.5 million by 2013-2014.

North Harbor is targetting an initial increase in capacity to 760,000 to 780,000 TEUs.

HCPTI owns 65 percent of MNHPI, a joint venture with Petron Corp., and holds the 25-year contract to develop, manage and operate North Harbor.

Romero’s group also owns Harbour Centre, a 15-hectare multi-purpose private commercial terminal located within the 79-hectare port-city complex called Manila Harbour Centre.