Bank of Commerce files for P4-B IPO

San Miguel Corp.'s banking arm Bank of Commerce is planning to raise over P4 billion by offering its shares to the investing public.

On Thursday, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said it received on December 7 the registration statement of Bank of Commerce for an initial public offering of up to 280,602,800 common shares with an overallotment option of up to 42,090,400 common shares at an offer price of P12.50 apiece.

The bank is expecting to raise P3.507 billion from offering 280.6 million shares. Assuming that the overallotment option will be fully exercised, the bank will raise about P4.03 billion from the IPO.

Net proceeds from the offer will be used to fund the bank’s lending activities, acquisition of investment securities, and finance capital expenditure requirements in connection with the upgrading of its ATM fleet and its core banking system.

The PSE and the SEC must both approve the IPO.

The company tapped BDO Capital & Investment Corp., China Bank Capital Corp., Philippine Commercial Capital, Inc., and PNB Capital Investment Corp. as joint issue managers, joint lead underwriters, and joint bookrunners for the transaction.

Bank of Commerce aims to be listed on the main board of the Philippine Stock Exchange. — VBL, GMA News