San Miguel power arm revives $700-M IPO plans

MANILA, Philippines – Diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. is reviving plans to raise US$700 million through an initial public offering (IPO) of its power generation subsidiary this 2013.

San Miguel president and COO Ramon Ang said they are now in talks with 3 bankers for a “cornerstone investor” in San Miguel Global Power Holdings Corp.

“The equity value of our power generation company is $1.5 billion. If we sell at least 49%, we will raise about $700 million,” Ang said on the sidelines of Ginebra San Miguel Inc’s annual stockholders meeting on Thursday, May 9.

SMC Global Power’s maiden share sale was originally scheduled in the last quarter of 2011 but the brewing global financial crisis and the sovereign crisis in Europe led it to shelve its listing plans.

The P36.6 billion target IPO proceeds from the listing of SMC Global Power Holdings Inc. in 2011 was supposed to be a record high in local capital markets. Parent San Miguel has since clinched that record after it raised P80 billion from the listing of preferred shares in September 2012. 

Proceeds from the fund raising will be used to acquire and put up power projects. Previously, the power unit said it plans to build 4 new or “greenfield” power projects in Cavite, Leyte, Bulacan and Davao worth P90.4 billion. – Rappler.com