SEC approves GT Capital’s issuance of preferred shares

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has given its go-signal to the planned fund-raising activity of GT Capital Holdings, Inc., which would give the listed conglomerate as much as R12 billion intended to pay its debt as well as fund its acquisitions.

After its recent en banc session, the SEC approved the plan of GT Capital to sell R12 billion worth of perpetual preferred shares.

A document showed that the share sale would involve issuance of up to 12 million cumulative, non-voting, nonparticipating, non-convertible, peso-denominated perpetual preferred shares.

To be specific, 8 million perpetual preferred shares will be sold by way of primary offering, while 4 million shares will be sold in case of oversubscription. The shares will be sold at R1,000 apiece.

"GT Capital expects to use the net proceeds from the offer to refinance previous acquisitions paid through bridge financing within the fourth quarter of 2016 and to fund strategic acquisitions," the company told the SEC.

Around this time last year, GT Capital has bought a stake at mass housing developer Property Company of Friends, Inc. (PCFI), acquiring exactly 22.68 percent of the company for R7.24 billion.

The deal between the two companies also allow GT Capital to increase its direct shareholding to 51 percent within the next three years.

“We view this acquisition as a mutually beneficial partnership for both parties. PCFI has the product expertise and the strategic land bank, while GT Capital has the financial resources and access to capital,” GT Capital Chairman Francisco Sebastian said.