FNI to reduce size of follow-on offering

GLOBAL FERRONICKEL Holdings, Inc. (FNI) has slashed anew the size of a long-delayed follow-on share sale that will raise a maximum of P1 billion to prepay debt.

Global Ferronickel — formerly Southeast Asia Cement Holdings, Inc. and served as the backdoor listing vehicle of Platinum Group Metals Corp. (PGMC) — filed an amended registration statement for an offer size of up to 250 million common shares at a price of up to P4 apiece, the nickel producer said in a disclosure on Monday.

The new issue size is a far cry from the maximum amount of P31.03 billion that the miner had initially intended to raise when it filed an application with the SEC in December 2014 and lower than the roughly P2.025-billion offer that was approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in March last year.

The new offer price is also half the previous indicative price of P8.10 per share.

Abacus Capital and Investment Corp. was tapped as underwriter of the deal that will fund the prepayment of an existing loan, Global Ferronickel Executive Vice-President Dante R. Bravo said in a mobile phone message.

The timing of the equity offer will depend on when the company will secure the green light from the SEC and the Philippine Stock Exchange, Mr. Bravo said.

“We remain hopeful that this would be a better year for the mining industry,” he said.

Global Ferronickel is the second largest nickel producer in the Philippines and the largest single lateritic mine exporter in the world.

In November, FNI sealed an agreement with Vi Holding, LLC., a member of an international investment and industrial group from Russia, for the implementation of joint business projects in the processing of lateritic ores.

The government’s intensified crackdown on miners has cast a cloud of uncertainty over the mining industry, forcing several companies to shelve their capital-raising plans.