Small investors get bigger IPO portion

MANILA, Philippines — Retail investors can invest more in listed companies after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the increase in the share of local small investors (LSI) in initial public offerings.

Effective immediately, the new rules now allow a maximum subscription of P100,000 for LSIs from P25,000 previously.

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) amended Article III, Part F, Section 3 of the Consolidated Listing and Disclosure Rules.

The amendments require the issuer to provide an appropriate distribution mechanism to facilitate greater LSI participation nationwide and for the issuer to prioritize LSIs with subscriptions lower than P100,000 in the allocation.

The PSE has been trying to encourage the public to invest in the local stock market.

?D.M. Wenceslao & Associates Inc., the integrated property developer, was the first to brave the market this year, successfully raising P8.1 billion from its recent initial public offering.

Other companies are also planning to list in the stock market this year.

The SEC, for instance, recently approved the plan of Cal-Comp Technology (Philippines) Inc. to go public.

Cal-Comp is a technology company that is part of Taiwanese conglomerate New Kinpo Group.

The SEC approved its registration statement for a planned listing tentatively on Oct. 2.

The company recently filed for a P6.77 billion IPO application with the SEC. Proceeds would be used for facilities expansion, acquisition of new equipment, and research and development.

Another company, San Miguel Food and Beverage Inc. (SMFB), the newly consolidated food and beverage subsidiary of San Miguel Corp., meanwhile, is planning a share sale of up to P142.8 billion.

The company plans to list tentatively in early November following a planned sale that scheduled to run from Oct. 23 to 29. The share sale will involve up to 1.02 billion secondary shares.

Part of the proceeds would be used for investments in the San Miguel Group, including capital and funding requirements of future projects.