AYALA Corp. successfully raised P15 billion in new capital to finance its investment initiatives through the sale and follow-on offering (FOO) of some 7.5 million preferred “B” shares.

Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) President and CEO Ramon Monzon said Tuesday that the stock offering was warmly received and the oversubscription option was fully exercised.

The base offering consisted of 5 million cumulative, non-convertible, non-participating, non-voting, redeemable, peso-denominated perpetual preferred shares. The oversubscription option consisting of 2.5 million shares, offered at a par value of P100 and priced at P2,000 each, was also fully exercised.

The offering period ran from October 1 to 7, 2024. The initial dividend rate for the reissued preferred shares is 6.0538 percent.

“This FOO comes a year after Ayala’s offering of its A preferred shares, which were also 1.3 times oversubscribed,” Monzon said during the ringing ceremony on Tuesday.

“The oversubscription of these consecutive FOO offerings proves that a company founded on integrity and social conscience, and managed by professional and visionary leaders, will always receive special attention and support from investors” , he added.

Cezar Consing, president and chief executive officer of the country’s oldest conglomerate, said the Ayala Group has always been a strong supporter of the Philippine stock market since the company’s listing some 50 years ago.

“Today, you can count Ayala Corp., Ayala Land, Bank of the Philippine Islands, Globe (Telecom), ACEN and Areit (the group’s real estate investment company) among the most valuable public companies in the country” , Consing said. said.

The group is also a regular issuer of debt and preferred shares and Ayala companies account for more than 18 percent of all preferred shares outstanding on the PSE, it noted.

“The issuance of 15 billion preferred shares we are listing today will help us continue to build businesses that enable people to thrive. Our largest and best-known businesses – real estate, banking, telecommunications, renewable energy – have benefited from our ability to raise financing at the holding company level.

The ability to raise funds will also benefit lesser-known businesses – healthcare, logistics, infrastructure, education, fintech and e-mobility – as the conglomerate’s goal is to grow these businesses at scale “so that even these relatively news can have a positive impact on the lives of a significant number of our compatriots,” he added.

BPI Capital Corp., BDO Capital and Investment Corp., China Bank Capital Corp., PNB Capital and Investment Corp., RCBC Capital Corp. and SB Capital Investment Corp. were joint lead underwriters and bookrunners for the offering.

BPI Capital was also the sole issue manager while negotiation participants PSE and First Metro Investment Corp. were the sales agents.

China Bank Capital Corp. Managing Director Juan Paolo Colet said: “We are very pleased with the strong market demand for Ayala’s preferred stock offering. The issue was largely oversubscribed by a good balance of institutional and retail investors, who were looking for a top investment with a fairly high dividend yield.

Ayala shares on Tuesday rose by P10, or 1.39 percent, to close at P730 apiece, amid a 1.77 percent rise in the benchmark PSE index.