Visayas-based fuel retailer and distributor Top Line Business Development Corp. is in talks for the participation of a strategic investor in its P897.87-million initial public offering (IPO) set on March 24 to 31, a company official said.
Erik Lim, Top Line chairman, said at a briefing Wednesday the company is in the ad-vanced stage of discussion with the investor he declined to identify, noting that it could be a “strategic investor in a logistics standpoint.”
The investor was the reason the company opted to move its IPO timetable to March from the original schedule on November 27 to December 3, 2024, reducing the target proceeds from the previous P3.16 billion, Lim added.
In the latest IPO plan, Top Line expects to price its share sale by March 7, in time for a listing at the Philippine Stock Exchange by April 8.
The company is looking to offer to the public 2.15 billion primary shares covering the initial public offer and another 214.84 million shares for the oversubscription option, at an offer price of up to P0.38 per share.
The public will own 22 percent of the company post-IPO.
For the primary share offer, the company will net P764.2 million that will be used to roll out its “vertical integration strategy,” Top Line said in its statement on Wednesday.
