AudioWav looks forward to P2.66-B IPO

Technology company AudioWav Media Inc. is optimistic that it can secure regulatory approvals to proceed with its P2.66-billion initial public offering (IPO) this year, which will fund its regional expansion plans.

"We are looking forward that the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) or the regulators to further understand what technology is," WAV President and CEO Carlos Hinolan told GMA News Online in recent interview in Makati City.

The tech firm originally planned its IPO in last year, however, it failed to obtain regulatory approvals from SEC and the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), prompting WAV to move the schedule in the first quarter of 2017.

"The Philippines and the regulators should also focus on tech. We are now just about BPOs, mining, real estate ... The biggest companies in the world are tech companies, so we need to join, and that's where the world is going," Hinolan noted.

"The regulators will be dealing with more tech companies as we move forward," he added.

Asked why it failed to secure approval from the SEC, the firm's chief said, "we are the 'crazy' guys pushing forward and you have the regulators, who are 'conservative.'"

"Look at how many tech companies there are in the Philippines, and look at Hong Kong – there are 150 listings ... Look at the Philippines, how many listing did we have last year? Only four. We still have a long way to go," Hinolan said.

"We are pushing forward and we appreciate what the regulators do," he said.

For its maiden share sale, WAV is planning to sell up to 900 million primary common shares, representing 23 percent of the company's authorized capital stock, at an offer price of P1.77 to P2.96 apiece.

Eyeing to aggressively expand in China, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam and become the first Filipino multi-sensory brand in Asia, Hinolan said proceeds from the IPO gives WAV a "war chest" of funds to be able to grow and scale.

"We are going to this IPO because we really want to expand across Asia Pacific. We spent a lot of years creating the technology and ... it doesn't really make sense for us to stay in one country ... it doesn't maximize the technology or the platform," he emphasized.

Hinolan also disclosed a standing offer from a Singaporean equity firm that will pay WAV around $50 million, an amount equivalent to WAV expects to get from the planned IPO.

"The thing is, if we go in that direction, only one group will benefit – and that's not even a Filipino group. It will not greatly affect the economy, it's ... again taking what's good in Filipinos," he said.

WAV tapped SB Capital Investments Corp. as sole issue manager and book runner for the IPO.

Established in 2003, WAV is a technology firm that developed its own proprietary platform of in-house developed software and hardware devices designed to provide clients with customized branding solutions. — VDS, GMA News