Caberte, Jona B.

BSA-2

AC 509

MW 12:00-1:30

IPO Offerings
East West Banking Corp. engages in the provision of commercial banking services to
retail customers and mid-market corporate customers, a strategy it plans to keep after the IPO.
The company provides personal banking, e-banking and investment services. It operates its
business through five segments: Retail Banking, Corporate Banking, Consumer Lending,
Treasury & Trust, and Executive & Elimination Items. The company was founded on July 6,
1994 and is headquartered in Taguig, Philippines. Going public or listing at the Philippine Stock
Exchange is one of the preconditions before a bank can operate as a universal bank. East West
Bank now has a capitalization above the Bangko Sentrals requirement for a universal bank.
The banks domestic offering ran from April 20 to 26, 2012 while the final IPO price was
set on April 18. East West Banking Corp. has set its final IPO and had its trading debut on
Philippine Stock Exchange last May 7, 2012. As of that date, its price guidance has a range of
P18.50-23.50. The price range was equivalent to a base initial public offering (IPO) size of
P4.54-5.77 billion. The stocks price as of to date is P25.60. The banks international lead
managers for this IPO are Deutsche Bank AG, Hong Kong Branch and J.P. Morgan Securities
Ltd. while Unicapital Inc. serves as it domestic lead writer who serves as an FI that facilitates the
selling of the shares.
Apart from raising fresh funds for expansion, its stock debut meant the bank was
prepared to subject itself to higher standards of corporate governance. Being a publicly listed
company would give East West a new currency to fund potential merger and acquisitions in the
future. The bank intends to use the net proceeds from the primary offer for the payment of bank
branch licenses, the expansion of the branch network and implementation of IT infrastructure,
and for general corporate purposes. The inclusion of East West Bank in the MSCI global small
cap index also shows that credible rating organizations are monitoring the current state of the
country's banking sector, and identifying potential and promising financial institutions and
companies where investors can wisely put their investments.