Based on its preliminary registration statement filed at the Securities and Exchange Commis-sion, Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp seeks to offer up to 330 million |primary and secondary shares to the public for as much as 90 pesos per share.
If the company is able to issue the maximum amount of shares at the maximum price, it will be the biggest stock market debut seen in the history of the Philippine Stock Exchange.
The three largest IPOs so far in this market were completed by the following issuers: retailer Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc (28.11 billion pesos in 2013), Sy family-led conglomerate SM Investments Corp. (26.25 billion pesos in 2005) and Cemex Holdings Philippines Inc. (25.1 billion pesos in 2016).
Of the total offering, Pilipinas Shell plans to offer up to 270 million secondary shares and 30 million in primary shares while 30 million shares are set as over-allotment.
This stock debut will bring 18.6 per cent of the company’s post-IPO shares to public hands.
The company has tapped JP Morgan as global coordinator and international book runner for this offering while BPI Capital Corp is mandated as domestic lead underwriter and domestic bookrunner. Rothschild was named as financial adviser.
Pilipinas Shell expects to use proceeds from the primary shares offering to fund capital expenditure, working capital as well as general corporate expenses for the next two years.
By IPO allotment, the company intends to allot 69 per cent of shares to offshore institutional investors while 30 per cent is earmarked for local trading participants and local small investors. The remaining 1 per cent will be set aside for its employees.
The government has been prodding Pilipinas Shell to embark on |an IPO to meet the minimum of |10 percent public ownership required by Republic Act 8479 or |the Downstream Oil Industry Deregulation Act of 1998 for oil refining firms.

GSO experts attributed the surplus to a rise in export values, while import revenues declined. The nation’s export turnover during the period rose 5.3 per cent year-on-year to $96.83 billion, while its import value saw a modest reduction of 1 per cent to more than $95 billion.
Of export turnover, foreign-invested businesses generated $68.9 billion, up 6.5 per cent year-on-year, while the remainder of $27.93 billion came from domestic firms, surging 2.5 per cent on-year. Some key export staples, during the first seven months, included mobile phones and components up 13.5 per cent to $19.5 billion; textile and garments up 5.4 per cent to $13.2 billion; electronics and components up 9.5 per cent to $9.4 billion; and footwear up 8 per cent to $7.53 billion.
Encouraging export growth was also seen in handbags, wallets, suitcases, hats and umbrellas, seafood, cashew nuts as well as fruit and vegetables.
However, exports of some products declined in this period, with crude oil slipping 44.5 per cent to $1.4 billion, cassava and cassava products slumping 28.5 per cent to $614 million, rubber down 10 per cent to $679 million and steel and iron sinking 3 per cent to $988 million.
As for imports, machines, equipment, oil and gas, as well as many raw materials, which account for nearly 92 per cent of the country’s total import values, dropped 5.8 per cent year-on-year to $15.4 billion in seven months. Petroleum, animal feed also saw yearly reductions of 17 per cent and 5 per cent, respectively.
GSO said China remained Vietnam’s largest import market. From January to July, Vietnam imported $27.4 billion worth of goods from China, nearly four times and five times higher than figures from Japan and the EU. That has resulted in a trade deficit of $16.7 billion Vietnam recorded with the neighbouring country.
Vietnam was striving to fetch a total of $178 billion from exports by year-end, up 10 per cent from a year ago, and control trade deficit at 5 per cent.

Columbia Asia, part of Seattle-based Columbia Pacific Management, has 27 hospitals and one clinic across India, Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia.
In a statement yesterday, Mitsui said it saw tremendous growth potential in the Columbia Asia platform, which is the only healthcare provider in Asia to operate hospitals in many countries under a |single brand, and one of the few |large, multinational providers in Asia to build the vast majority of its hospitals itself.
“Columbia Asia has proven more than 20 years that it can enter new markets across various countries and develop international, high-quality hospitals that meet the needs of the emerging middle class,” said Mitsui managing officer and chief operating officer for healthcare and service business unit Koji Nagatomi.
“The company has also established a firm presence in countries where healthcare spending and insurance coverage are going up at a rapid pace, which positions the firm well in coming decades,” it said.
Columbia Asia will use the proceeds from the Mitsui investment to continue to expand its network of hospitals across Asia, including several current development projects.
In addition, the company will open its first facility in Africa next month, a multispecialty clinic in Nairobi, Kenya under a new brand, Columbia Africa.
As part of its investment, Mitsui will gain two seats on the Columbia Asia board of directors and play a role in company operations.
Mitsui is also using the investment to expand its hospital business as the core of its healthcare strategy and will lookto form partnerships between Columbia Asia and some of the other healthcare companies in which Mitsui is an investor.

Closer engagement in these sectors would strengthen economic cooperation between Laos and China, particularly between Vientiane and Hunan province, in the years to come.
Vice Chairman of the Hunan Provincial Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Zhang Dafang held talks with the President of the Vientiane People’s Council, Dr Anouphab Tounalom, in Vientiane on Tuesday.
Their talks centred on boosting two-way trade and promoting Laos to Chinese investors, particularly in Hunan province. Zhang Dafang led a delegation to visit Laos from July 25-28 to discuss issues that aim to strengthen relations between Laos and Hunan province.
Hunan province is located in South Central China on the south bank of the Yangtze River.
The province has long been known for its natural beauty as it is surrounded by mountains to the east, west, and south, and by the Yangtze River to the north. Its mixture of mountains and water makes it among the most beautiful provinces in China.
The province has been a major centre of agriculture, growing rice, tea, and oranges.
Concerning agriculture, the two sides agreed to encourage entrepreneurs from Hunan province to invest in the farming of organic vegetables and other crops for export. With regards to tourism, they agreed to persuade business operators in the province to invest in the improvement of facilities for tourists, particularly those from China.
At present, many Chinese know more about Thailand than Laos so a stronger marketing campaign is needed to ensure that people are informed about Laos and its many attractions as well as its business potential.
There is no official report on the extent of investment from Hunan province in Laos, or which sectors are most popular with investors.
Huge investment by China mainly flows from Yunnan province, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and from Beijing.
Laos is now the second most favoured overseas investment destination for entrepreneurs from Yunnan province. The value of investment by this province in Laos has climbed to US$1.04 billion.
But much more needs to be done to promote Laos to Hunan investors so as to boost overall two-way trade and investment cooperation between Laos and China.