PRO-FRIENDS MOVES IPO TO LATE THIS YEAR

MANILA, Philippines – Housing developer Pro-Friends Group Inc. has moved its initial public offering (IPO) to late this year after a 135-day window for the offer period lapsed, its top official said.

The company is waiting to complete the fiscal year ending June 30 to pursue its IPO before refiling, president and chief executive officer Guillermo Choa said on the sidelines of the Asia Real Estate Summit.

“We’re going for the June 30 financial statement (FS) because there’s no point. because the 135 days has already lapsed. So (we’re eyeing an IPO in the) latter part of the year,” he said.

However, the company official noted the conduct of the IPO will depend on several things.

“(It) could be the market itself. You really want to take a look at the particular availability of funding, and the different forms of funding,” Choa said.

Originally set in October 2014, the public sale hopes to raise as much as P7.7 billion in fresh funds with of 385.75 million primary shares at a price of up to P20 per share. It was approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission in December last year.

First Metro Investments Corp. and BDO Capital and Investments Corp. were tapped as the joint underwriters for the IPO.

Currently, the company is working on an estate project in Cagayan de Oro, marking its move from small developments to large-scale projects, Choa said.

“We don’t really do a lot of projects because we do estate… so unlike other players that have hundreds of projects all over the place, we only have a few but here they’re pretty large,” he noted.

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