Globe Asiatique stops planned IPO
Posted on September 7th, 2010
Globe Asiatique intended to hold an initial public offering (IPO), unfortunately the property developing company owned by businessman Delfin Lee decided to withdraw its P3.3 billion IPO application with the Philippine Stock Exchange because its underwriter decided to quit.
The company, in its letter to the PSE, said that BDO Capital and Investment Corp. have resigned as the issue manager and lead underwriter or the company’s public offering. “In the light of this development, Globe Asiatique has to respectfully request the withdrawal of our approval by the Exchange due to the unexpected resignation of our issue manager and lead underwriter,” it said.
For its part, BDO Capital, through its president Ed Francisco said, it quits as underwriter of Globe Asiatique because of the company’s decision to put off its IPO. “We resigned as the IPO has been postponed and they are considering withdrawing IPO approval totally,” Francisco said.
Globe Asiatique recently disclosed to the PSE its plan of deferring its intended IPO “mainly due to the weak global market conditions.” In spite of the allegations that the company has “fictitious housing borrowers,” it said it still believes in the soundness of its business plan and model.
The company said, “Globe Asiatique still believes that it does still offer an extremely attractive investment for the public and hopes to one day be able to realize its goal of launching a successful initial public offering on the exchange.”
Globe Asiatique said that with the resignation of its underwriter, the company will experience “obvious insurmountable difficulties” in its ability to launch a successful IPO. The real estate firm said it wasn’t aware of the BDO Capital’s intention to resign until it received a letter of resignation from them.
Meanwhile, as task force has been created by the Ombudsman to probe alleged anomalies in the home loans granted by the Home Development Mutual Fund or Pag-IBIG Fund to Globe Asiatique. Virtue of Office Order 345, the task force was created that will conduct an investigation on the alleged fraudulent use of Pag-IBIG loans for Globe Asiatique’s housing projects in Pampanga.
