Cebu-based developer eyes PSE listing, IPO

SOBERANO (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)

A Cebu-based property developer is planning to open the company to the stock market and eventually issue an Initial Public Offering (IPO) for the company.

Joe Soberano, chairman and chief executive officer of Cebu Landmasters, Inc. (CLI), said the company (Cebu Landmasters Inc.) is looking at listing to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) as an option for generating funds.

“This is one option we are considering very strongly. These are things that are being worked out,” he told reporters in a press briefing last Monday.

An IPO is the first time that stock of a private firm is offered to the public.

IPOs are often issued by smaller, younger companies seeking capital to expand, but they can also be done by large privately-owned companies seeking to become publicly traded.

The firm, which was incorporated in 2003 and had Villa Easter Subdivision as its first project, had since grown into one of the major property developers in Cebu with projects including the Park Centrale Cebu at the Cebu IT Park, the new Baseline Center, and the firm’s joining a consortium called El Camino Developers Inc. for a P6B development of a one hectare lot at the Cebu IT Park.

Soberano, who did not reveal details on the time frame of the planned move for CLI, said they had tapped BDO Capital as issue manager and BPI Capital as underwriter and book runner.

The company official said everything is still fluid at this time, adding how the prospect is good to consider since they are probably the only homegrown firm that is eyeing this direction.

“It will be a great opportunity for us to be there as a listed company. We’ll take pride in that if that ever happens,” Soberano said.

He said that some companies might not go to that direction, but he would like to be among those who did.

Soberano added that it would be good for the industry if there were players that are bound by the laws of good governance and transparency, pointing out that this will elicit more confidence from the market they serve.

“While we’re not there, we don’t report our numbers. But once we do, everything will be there on record,” he said.

Soberano said that if listing is good for him, it should be good for everybody.

However, he said that while he was recommending listing to other homegrown companies in Cebu, each firm had their own objectives, ways of approaching ownership and strategies.

If they would want to make their firm a closed company, he said that is their priority, and that he cannot say that, that is not a good option.

“But if you ask me if I would recommend (listing), I would say yes,” said Soberano.

He said many things will happen once a company opens itself to the capital market, including a wider room to operate, broadened horizons, and increased competitiveness.