Cebu Air sets P125 per share for its stock market debut

Gokongwei-led Cebu Air Inc., operator of budget carrier Cebu Pacific Air, set its final offer price at P125 per share for its planned initial public offering (IPO) on Oct. 26, the company said on Friday. At this price level, Cebu Air will generate almost P26.82-billion proceeds — the highest since tycoon Henry Sy’s flagship SM Investments Corp. raised P25.75 billion from its stock market debut in March 2005. The airline had earlier said its offering price is between P110 and P135 per share. Under the plan, Cebu Air said it will sell 30.661 million primary shares and 155.975 million secondary shares owned by its parent company JG Summit Holdings Inc. Some 27.99 million shares were also set aside to cover over-allotment option, the airline said. Cebu Air meanwhile moved the listing date for the airlines’ shares to Oct. 26 from Oct. 25, which the Aquino administration declared as a non-working holiday for the barangay elections. The airline said it has tapped Citigroup Global Markets Ltd., Deutsche Bank AG in Hong Kong, and J.P. Moragan Securities Ltd. to be the joint global coordinators and international lead managers. ATR KimEng Capital Partners Inc. has been hired to be the domestic lead underwriter for the offering, Cebu Air said. According to the prospectus Cebu Air filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the airline intends to use the majority of net proceeds from the offer as pre-delivery payment for its new aircraft. From 2011 to 2012, Cebu Air plans to spend P4.46 billion for the pre-delivery payment of aircrafts. - JE/OMG, GMANews.TV