MANILA — Philippine conglomerate San Miguel Corp on Thursday priced shares in its food and beverage unit at the bottom of an indicative selling range, seeking to raise 34 billion pesos ($634 million) in Southeast Asia’s worst-performing market so far this year.
The pricing comes a week after San Miguel slashed the size of its stake sale in San Miguel Food and Beverage Inc by nearly half, as a weak stock market thwarted what could have been the country’s biggest-ever secondary offering.
“Appetite for the Philippine market in general has not been strong, San Miguel Food and Beverage included,” said Luis Limlingan, managing director at Manila-based brokerage firm Regina Capital Development Corp.
The Philippine benchmark share price index has fallen nearly 19 percent this year, as benchmark interest rates hit seven-year highs and sentiment for emerging markets wanes.
The market weakness has already affected several other share offers. Cal-Comp Technology (Philippines) Inc last month delayed its $124 million initial public offering (IPO), while Del Monte Philippines Inc shelved its $258 million IPO in June.
The sale of a minority stake in San Miguel Food and Beverage is part of the parent firm’s restructuring plan that was first mooted about a year ago.
San Miguel plans to sell 400.94 million shares in its food unit for 85 pesos apiece, worth 34 billion pesos, the low end of an 85 to 95 pesos marketing range, the consumer firm said in a statement. The stake sale would represent about 6.8 percent of the unit’s shares.
The offer has an over-allotment option of up to 60.14 million shares worth 5.11 billion pesos.
The price range compared with a regulatory filing price in August of up to 140 pesos per share. The food unit’s shares traded down 1.9 percent to 82.25 pesos by the noon break.
JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley and UBS are joint global co-ordinators for the sale, while Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs are joint bookrunners. BDO Capital and Investment and BPI Capital are the local lead underwriters. ($1 = 53.75 Philippine pesos) — Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales and Anshuman Daga; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Richard Pullin