Defying the odds

The trickle of public listings at the local bourse may soon improve to a more steady stream with the entry of a new company. We’re talking about global consumer tech giant New Kinpo Group (NKG), which is looking to join the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) this year via its local subsidiary, Cal-Comp Technology (Philippines) Inc.

From what we hear, CalComp Tech seems ready to defy the odds of a weak local market and peso, as it filed its P6.77-billion initial public offering application in the Securities and Exchange Commission last week. Cal-Comp Tech will sell up to 378,071,100 primary common shares with an overallotment option of up to 19,898,500 common shares, or about 26.77 percent of the company.

But... Cal-Comp Tech who? Well, the company is one of the Philippine subsidiaries of NKG, a Taiwan-based global conglomerate engaged in electronic manufacturing services (EMS) and original design manufacturing. It produces multiple product lines (see story on B4).

NKG ranks in the top 10 in the global EMS market and is the largest Taiwanese investor in the Philippines, having invested $172 million since it set up its first plant in the country in 2000.

We learned the company plans to make the Philippines its core manufacturing hub in Southeast Asia, along with Thailand. It hopes to strengthen the country’s manufacturing capabilities while developing local talent, especially Filipino engineers’ expertise in research and development.

Cal-Comp Tech is unfazed by the weak performance of the peso because it deals with exported products that benefit from a high dollar rate. It is raising funds and its public profile so it can begin rolling out its own-branded products in the domestic market.

Will Cal-Comp Tech make a big splash in its PSE debut? Watch this space.