The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) halted trading in Dennis Uy’s Dito CME Holdings Corp. shares yesterday after the telco canceled its P8 billion stock rights offering.
The trading stop will remain in effect until DITO offers a complete and detailed explanation of its decision to postpone its offer.
Over the weekend, DITO CME stated that the current market conditions are unfavorable for pursuing the offering, and that the company chose to postpone the stock rights offer after careful review of its business strategy.
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In a notification to the PSE, DITO CME also stated that the rights offer had been postponed due to “other anticipated concerns.”
In response, the PSE stated that the deferral of the offering had not been granted.
“Please keep in mind that the exchange of the delay of the offering should not be interpreted as approval.” Furthermore, this is without prejudice to any regulatory action that the exchange may take to guarantee complete compliance with the applicable rules and to safeguard the investing public in accordance with the exchange’s role as a self-regulated body to maintain a fair and orderly market. “The company, its underwriter, and other advisers are accountable for full adherence to the exchange’s standards,” the PSE stated.
DITO CME stated that any current shareholder or eligible institutional buyer who paid a subscription payment during the offer period would be refunded.
The company stated that it was looking into additional ways to raise funding.
“In lieu of this, the firm is exploring numerous alternative funding solutions that have recently become available that it believes will add additional value to its shareholders.” “When market conditions improve, the company may re-enter the market,” DITO CME stated.
DITO hoped to raise P8 billion through the sale of 1.64 billion common shares at P4.88 per share.
DITO Telecommunity now has at least 4,100 cellular towers in operation, with over 4,000 more under construction, and coverage in over 500 cities and municipalities across Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
Since its commercial launch less than a year ago, it has over five million users.