⁍ Converge ICT Solutions completed a $600 million IPO, the country’s second largest.
⁍ Proceeds to partially finance nationwide fibre broadband rollout.
⁍ Pandemic forces schools to shut indefinitely, remote working.
– The Philippines’ second-largest initial public offering since 2013 raised $600 million, but shares in Converge ICT Solutions tumbled as much as 10.6% in the first hour of trading today, Reuters reports. The fiber broadband provider is relying on the H1N1 virus to fund a nationwide rollout of fiber broadband, and the shutdown of schools due to the outbreak has caused a surge in demand for remote working and studying, the company says. Converge, minority owned by US private equity firm Warburg Pincus, plans to use a portion of the IPO proceeds to fund an ongoing $1.8 billion internet backbone expansion. The company sold 1.73 billion shares, including an over-allotment, at 16.80 pesos apiece in the country’s second-largest initial public offering (IPO), behind only Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc’s $627 million share sale in 2013. The valuation of Converge is justified by the company’s high growth potential, Converge CEO Dennis Anthony Uy told an ANC news channel. By 2025, Converge would offer services to 80 million of the country’s 107 million population, he said. To date, Converge has clocked up roughly 750,000 residential customers mostly in Manila.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/converge-ipo/update-1-philippines-converge-shares-drop-after-completing-countrys-second-largest-ipo-idUSL4N2HH0G1