* Shares priced near bottom of indicated range
* Broadband company's shares well oversubscribed - source
* Service rollout as coronavirus curbs stoke home network
demand
(Adds details on investors)
By Neil Jerome Morales and Anshuman Daga
MANILA/SINGAPORE, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Philippine fibre
broadband provider Converge ICT Solutions Inc priced near the
bottom of an indicated range its initial public offering (IPO)
that aims to raise up to $600 million, in the country's
second-largest ever listing.
Converge is banking on a boom in demand for fibre broadband
during the coronavirus pandemic, which has forced workers and
students to stay at home. Converge, which lists U.S. private
equity firm Warburg Pincus WP.UL as a minority shareholder, is
building a $1.8 billion internet backbone to support a
nationwide rollout.
The IPO comes as hefty share sales across Southeast Asia in
the fourth quarter mark the return of investor interest in the
region's underperforming markets. Thailand's Siam Cement Group
Packaging PCL priced its IPO on Thursday, in the country's
second-biggest listing this year that could raise up to $1.5
billion. In a notice to the local bourse, Converge said it would sell
up to 1.73 billion shares, including an over-allotment option,
at 16.80 pesos ($0.35) each. The indicated range was 16.50 to 19
pesos. At $600 mln the IPO would give Converge a market value of
$2.6 billion and is second only to Robinsons Retail Holdings
Inc's RRHI.PS $627 million share sale in 2013.
The offering was well oversubscribed, with 80% of
allocations going to investors like global emerging market funds
and sovereign wealth funds, a person with direct knowledge of
the matter told Reuters. The person declined to be identified
citing lack of authorisation to speak to media.
Shares in Converge would start trading on Oct. 26, after its
offer period on Oct. 12 to 16.
The firm's ambitions to ramp up broadband internet in the
country comes as business operations and movement of people in
and around Manila - a coronavirus hotspot - remain restricted
since President Rodrigo Duterte imposed a strict lockdown in
mid-March.
($1 = 48.31 Philippine pesos)