Pilipinas Shell IPO: Strong interest from long-term investors

MANILA, Philippines – The planned P19.5-billion initial public offering (IPO) of Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation has received strong interest from long-term institutional investors, according to the underwriter handling the transaction.

BPI Capital managing director and chief operating officer Reginaldo Anthony Cariaso said in a briefing that 80% of the institutional portion of the offer has been allocated to high-quality long-term investors here and abroad.

“This will help all future shareholders of Pilipinas Shell when it debuts in the market. The shares will be in very good calm hands,” Cariaso said.

Offer period for the Pilipinas Shell IPO will be from October 19 to October 25.

Pilipinas Shell is offering a total of 291 million shares, including 16 million over allotment shares priced at P67 per share.

Out of the offer shares, 69% has been set aside for foreign and institutional investors, 30% for the domestic, and the remaining 1% for Pilipinas Shell employees.

For the domestic retail offering, the oil refiner has also implemented new strategies to attract potential investors.

For instance, local small investors may apply to purchase up to P100,000 worth of Pilipinas Shell shares from previous minimum of P25,000.

Local investors may also obtain applications to purchase in selected Shell retail stations or they may download the application forms from the websites of Pilipinas Shell and BPI Capital.

The application forms could also be submitted to various receiving centers, including various Ayala Land malls across the country.

The company’s shares will be listed under the main board of the Philippine Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “SHLPH” on November 3.

The initial public offering and listing of the shares is in compliance with the Oil Deregulation Law of 1998, which requires oil refiners to list at least 10% of their shares in the local stock market.

Post IPO, Pilipinas Shell will have a market capitalization of P108 billion, higher than the market leader Petron Corporation, which has market capitalization of P98.4 billion.

Pilipinas Shell operates a 110 barrel-per-day refinery in Batangas, which recently underwent an upgrade to deliver Euro 4-compliant fuels. 

As of June 30, 2016, the company operates a network of 966 Shell Group-branded retail service stations, comprised of 583 retail service stations in Luzon, 160 in Visayas and 223 in Mindanao, offering fuel-based products, lubricants, non-fuel products and services. – Rappler.com