Frontier Oil eyes $50M from IPO
Upstream petroleum firm Frontier Oil Corp. (FOC) said it is planning to raise as much as $50 million in the local bourse through an initial public offering (IPO).
The local unit of Australia’s Frontier Gasfields Pty Ltd. is buying into several gas projects in the country prior to going public.
“FOC is currently finalizing the acquisition of a number of oil and gas projects in the Philippines ahead of a planned $30 to $50-million initial public offering (IPO) on the Philippine Stock Exchange,” Australia’s Bioprospect Ltd. said.
In a disclosure to the Australian Stock Exchange, Bioprospect said it sold 2.5 million shares or 50 percent of its stake in subsidiary Frontier Gasfields to FOC.
Bioprospect also cancelled its option to increase its shareholding in Frontier Gasfields to 75 percent.
FOC, in turn, will issue 430 million new common shares at a par value of P1 to Bioprospect.
“The exchange shares represent approximately 35 percent of the issued common stock of FOC on a pre-IPO basis,” Bioprospect said.
“Should the IPO raise the maximum targeted amount of $50 million, Bioprospect would hold approximately 13 percent of the issued common stock of FOC on a post-IPO basis,” it added.
There have been three IPOs in the local bourse so far: Farm inputs distributor Calata Corp.’s P270 million and East West Banking Corp.’s P5.2-billion share sale in May, and finacial conglomerate GT Capital Holdings Inc.’s P21.57-billion public offering in April.
FOC holds a 50-percent interest in Service Contract (SC) 52, an onshore oil and gas block located in the Cagayan Valley. It is also the project’s operator.