By Doris Dumlao
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Budget carrier Cebu Pacific hopes to raise up to P26.83 billion ($620 million) in what may be the country’s largest initial public offering this year.
Cebu Air Inc., operator of the Gokongwei-led budget carrier, finalized Friday its public offer at a price of P125 a share.
Analysts said the final pricing was reasonable given the profitability of the airline, its growing market share and cost-efficient business model.
“It was ... fairly priced and cheap compared to regional low-cost carriers,†said Paul Joseph Garcia of ING Investment Management, referring to the share price. “Cebu Air is a direct play on the growth of domestic tourism.â€
Based on a Philippine Stock Exchange memorandum containing final details of the offering, the operator of Cebu Pacific will sell as much as 214.63 million from the issuance of primary and secondary shares.
Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan are joint global lead managers for the share sale, and ATR KimEng Capital Partners is the local lead underwriter.
Cebu Air’s listing date on the PSE has also been moved to Oct. 26 as the original date, Oct. 25, has been declared by Malacañang to be a non-working holiday because of the barangay elections.
The company is the country’s largest budget carrier by fleet and sales. It is majority-owned by the local conglomerate JG Summit Holdings Inc.
Cebu Air’s IPO is expected to benefit from a rally at the Philippine stock market, which has gone up more than 38 percent this year.
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