A Philippines-based fibre-focused firm may soon be able to boast the country’s biggest-ever initial public offering.
According to Reuters, the country’s stock market regulator has approved an IPO for Converge ICT Solutions Inc, a provider of fibre broadband services. The sale could be worth as much as $856.97 million, according to reports. This would make it the country’s biggest IPO, though it is by no means guaranteed that the number of shares will reach the 1.73 billion level at a maximum price of 24 pesos each that Converge seems to be aiming for. The final price is to be announced on 9 October.
Converge ICT describes itself as the fastest-growing fibre internet and other digital consumer-centric services provider in the Philippines today. It adds: “The premium products and services we offer run through the first pure end-to-end fibre internet network in the country.”
There’s no doubt that Converge can claim a valuable commodity – even more so in a country where high coronavirus levels have led to school closures and businesses adopting working from home. It has been argued that broadband demand from e-commerce activity and a surge in home working and learning are likely to boost the appeal of the Converge offering.
Converge has 750,000 residential customers, mostly in and around the capital. As well as serving these customers it is in the process of building a $1.8 billion internet backbone.
