ABOITIZ-led Unionbank of the Philippines (PSE: UBP) raised P12 billion from its Stock Rights Offering (SRO) made available to existing shareholders.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), the bank concluded its offer of 210.97 million common shares priced at P56.88 per share.
The shares were offered to eligible shareholders as of the record date of 12 January 2023 at a ratio of 1 rights share for every 10.1536 existing common shares.
“The strong participation of our existing shareholders on our Stock Rights Offering, reflects their trust in the value that will be created by executing our strategies,” UBP President and CEO Edwin R. Bautista was quoted in a statement as saying.
Proceeds from the SRO will be used to solidify the Bank’s capital adequacy and financial strength and to execute its strategic growth initiatives by expanding its balance sheet to meet growing demand from UBP’s target markets.
Specifically, UBP will deploy additional capital to UnionDigital Bank Inc. and support loan availments by customers of both retail loans and corporate and commercial loans.
Bautista claims that as the lender completed its SRO, the lender aims “to pursue our long-term objective to become a leader in retail banking in the Philippines.”
The newly-issued shares were listed on the local bourse last February 6 and resulted to total outstanding shares amounting to over 2.35 billion.
The SRO garnered strong participation from UBP’s shareholders, led by principals Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc., Social Security System and Insular Life Assurance Co. Ltd., recording an oversubscription.
Unionbank said its offering was almost fully subscribed even at the first round of the offer, with the second round also heavily oversubscribed.
CLSA Exchange Capital Inc. and Unicapital Inc. acted as joint global coordinators and joint domestic underwriters for the SRO.
