The share price of Upson International Corp., a retailer of personal computers and information technology products, rose 20 percent to close at P2.90 during its debut on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) on Monday.
Its share price opened at P2.42, slightly higher than its listing price of P2.40. It went to as low as P2.27 during the morning trade, but later recovered and rose to as high as P3.30 per share.
PSE President Ramon S. Monzon said Upson’s target price may not have been ideal for its founders and owners. “Still they went ahead with their IPO [initial public offering] because they realized that the IPO price is not the be-all and end-all of their IPO journey. It is just the beginning.”
Upson had initially set its sights on P4.88 per share, but slashed its price by more than half.
“I hope the story of Upson inspires entrepreneurs who also want to see their businesses go public,” Monzon said.
“In 2003, our vision was born and it was ambitious. We wanted to be all over the Philippines. Within 18 months we opened 16 stores around Metro Manila and in key cities, such as Cebu and Davao,” company president and CEO Arlene Sy said.
Upson today operates a nationwide retail network of 200 stores as of September 30, with retail brand outlets such as Octagon Computer Superstore, Micro Valley, Gadget King and Octagon Mobile as well as concept and specialty stores like Acer, HP, Brother and Silvertec in select locations.
“We are happy to note that we had a healthy participation of institutional investors, with a significant majority of investors from foreign funds which is a strong testament to their confidence in our company, the retail sector, and the Philippines at large,” Sy said.
The offering of Upson, the second IPO of the year, consists of 625 million primary common shares, with an overallotment option of up to 62.5 million shares, priced at P2.40 per share. The IPO raised P1.65 billion.
First Metro Investment Corp. was the issue manager, bookrunner and joint lead underwriter of the IPO, while RCBC Capital Corp. was joint lead underwriter.
The company said its net proceeds from the IPO could reach P1.42 billion.
Upson plans to use this amount to fund its committed store network expansion by opening 250 stores from 2023 to 2027, or an additional retail space of 25,000 square meters. For this year, Upson aims to open 50 stores within Metro Manila, and key cities in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
Image credits: www.upson.com.ph
