OceanaGold PH initial public offering OK’d by regulator

THE Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday cleared the P7.9-billion initial public offering (IPO) of OceanaGold (Philippines) Inc., the operator of the Didipio gold-copper mine in Nueva Vizcaya.

The commission en banc said it “resolved to render effective” a registration statement covering 2.28 billion common shares, subject to the firm’s compliance with certain remaining requirements.

Owned by Toronto-listed OceanaGold Corp., the Philippine-based miner plans to offer to the public up to 456 million common shares, owned by shareholder OceanaGold (Philippines) Holdings Inc., at a price of P17.28 apiece.

“The offer shares are existing common shares offered by OceanaGold [Philippines] Holdings Inc. pursuant to a secondary offer,” a revised prospectus dated March 8 states.

The IPO will take place from April 22-26.

“Net proceeds from the offer are expected to reach P7.8 billion, which will go directly to the selling shareholder. The company will not receive any proceeds from the offer,” the SEC noted.

The planned listing is being undertaken “to comply with the conditions of the company’s renewed Financial or Technical Assistance Agreement with the government.”

The shares are set to be listed and traded on the main board of the Philippine Stock Exchange on May 7 under the stock code “OGP.”

BDO Capital & Investment Corp. was hired as the global coordinator, domestic underwriter and bookrunner for the transaction, while CLSA Ltd. was tapped as the international underwriter.

OceanaGold Philippines saw its net income last year plunge to $26.8 million from $54.9 million in 2022, although revenues grew to $371.1 million from $308.7 million.

The company’s operations at the Didipio Mine currently involve sourcing ore from the underground mine and its surface ore stockpile. The ore is then processed to produce gold ore and copper concentrate.