By:DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA

The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved a plan of Now Corp., which aspires to be the country’s third telecom provider, to raise as much as P1 billion through an offering of preferred shares.

Based on an SEC document, Now is authorized to offer up to 10 million redeemable, convertible and nonvoting preferred shares at P100 a share.

In its prospectus, Now said it intended to use “a majority of the net proceeds from the offer partly to fund the capital expenditure for the expansion of the fiber-in-air, fiber optic network.”

 

Now also plans to undergo an equity restructuring by applying the additional paid-in capital created by the offer to wipe out the capital deficit that is impairing its ability to declare and pay dividends.

 “This will also allow management the flexibility to invest the surplus cash back to grow the business,” it said.

The base offer is five million preferred shares but Now was given the option to upsize the offering by another five million preferred shares.

The 10 million preferred shares will be covered by 50 million in underlying common shares to be issued upon conversion of preferred shares at P20 a share. Five common shares will be issued for every one preferred share.

The offering of up to 10 million preferred shares comes with 10 million detachable warrants to be issued free of charge at a ratio of one preferred share to two detachable subscription warrants.

Including the oversubscription portion, there will be underlying 20 million common shares at a ratio of one detachable warrant to one common share.

Unicapital Inc. is the issue manager, bookrunner and underwriter.

Now intends to hold the offering on June 28 to July 4 and list the preferred shares on July 12.

Led by businessman Mel Velarde, Now is an IT company with three business segments: software licensing and servicing, IT manpower and resource augmentation, and broadband and wireless cable TV services.
Source: http://business.inquirer.net/252436/now-shares-offering-okd

By: Ted Cordero, GMA News

Now Corp. signed on Thursday an agreement covering the fiber optic assets of state-run National Transmission Corp. for establishing a national broadband network.

In a regulatory filing submitted by Now corporate secretary Angeline Macasaet, the company said that the signatories to a memorandum of understanding (MOU) include TransCo and Now Telecom Co. Inc.

“The MOU enables all parties to collaborate the potential use of TransCo’s existing fiber and microwave assets nationwide of use and access in certain fiber optic cores, vacant lots, tower spaces, and related facilities currently being operated on by National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) and owned by TransCo for the purpose of building a nationwide fixed broadband link,” Now Corp. said.

Now Corp. is among the local companies interested in forming a consortium for the third telco player and competing with incumbents PLDT Inc. and Globe Telecom Inc.

“NOW is determined to build an independent nationwide backbone to cover the entire country and we are seriously looking on the viability of collaborating with TransCo to achieve this end,” the company said.

“We now have a government committed to exhaust all means to solve the digital divide,” said Thomas Aquino, chairman of NOW Corporation, who signed the MOU together with Melvin Matibag, president and CEO of Transco.

In March, Philippine Telegraph and Telephone Corp. (PT&T) also signed an agreement with TransCo for the potential use of dark fiber that sits on country’s power transmission network.

On June 8, the Department of Information and Communication Technology signed a tripartite agreement with the NGCP and TransCo covering the unused fiber assets for the National Broadband Plan.

“With a newly renewed 25-year franchise, NOW Corp. will co-lead in the unfolding of the full transformation of the digital Filipino, in scale and in scope, the country has not seen before.” says Mel Velarde, NOW Corp. president and CEO. —VDS, GMA News

Source: http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/money/companies/656872/now-corp-inks-deal-covering-transco-s-fiber-optic-assets/story/

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