MANILA, Philippines — Top Line Business Development Corp. is set to welcome a foreign strategic investor in its planned initial public offering (IPO) this month.
The STAR has learned from a source familiar on the matter that a foreign company that serves as one of Top Line’s fuel supplier will serve as a strategic investor in the company’s upcoming IPO.
In a briefing yesterday, Top Line president and CEO Erik Lim said the company is in advanced talks with the strategic investor, but declined to disclose its identity.
“We’ll know soon when we do the offer period. And since the books are slowly being filled right now as we speak, because we’re doing the bookbuilding process now, and so potentially, we’re looking at a strategic investor that’s coming in,” Lim said.
Lim said that the strategic investor will be coming in during the company’s IPO, purchasing a portion of the primary shares that will be offered.
“We haven’t decided yet (how many percent), but they did mention that they want to invest in our growth for Top Line. And since we’re doing the bookbuilding process, so we mentioned to them that there are certain allocations,” he said.
The strategic investor will not have a board seat in the company, according to Lim.
“We basically moved the schedule (of the IPO) because we were talking to potential institutional investors to come in. In fact, it’s not only a potential investor, it’s a strategic investor in a logistics standpoint. So now, we’re happy that we’ve already spoken with them. But so far, they’ve shown a lot of interest coming in moving forward,” he said.
Top Line’s IPO, which was supposed to be the fourth and last IPO for 2024, is slated to be the first this year, with a target listing date on April 8, subject to post-approval conditions of the Philippine Stock Exchange and the issuance of the permit to sell by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Price setting is eyed on March 17, while offer period is seen running from March 24 to March 31.
The company expects to raise up to P764.2 million in net proceeds from the sale of up to 2.15 billion primary common shares at an indicative offer price of up to P0.38 per share subject to a bookbuilding process.
Top Line seeks to use the net proceeds for its vertical integration strategy, which will allow it to manage key aspects of its operations from sourcing to distribution, representing both its commercial fuel trade and retail market segments.