Converge Stocks Trading Over-the-Counter in US Markets

September 20, 2021 | 12:24pm

MANILA, Philippines — US investors may soon have another option to invest in Converge ICT Solutions Inc., as the Internet service provider announced its shares would be traded over-the-counter in the United States.

In an announcement to the stock exchange on Monday, Converge said 50 million company shares in the form of American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) will be offered to US investors at a maximum bid price of $5.00 each.

Converge is expected to secure $2.5 million (approximately 125 million) of the offer. The company has not disclosed where the proceeds of the sale will go.

The move is a “welcome development” for Pampanga-based businessman Dennis Anthony Uy, who recently debuted with his wife Maria Grace on the Forbes list of the richest in the Philippines, while Converge is catching the rare tailwind of the pandemic.

“This indicates the confidence of an increasing number of investors in the continued strong growth of the company as we continue to reach the unserved and unserved areas in the Philippines,” said Uy, the company’s CEO.

Just like Philippine Depository Receipts, which can buy foreign investors seeking dividend investments from Philippine companies, ADRs serve the same purpose for U.S. investors.

ADR is a tradable security that represents a certain number of shares in a foreign company that can be traded in the US. This, in turn, would allow Converge to raise capital in one of the world’s busiest financial markets without the process of listing on US exchanges and paying fees.

The ADRs that will be offered will be “unsponsored”, meaning that US banks can create and sell the ADRs – depending on market demand – without the need to ask Converge’s consent and involvement. Converge’s ADRs will be traded over-the-counter on US financial markets under the symbol “CVGYY”.

As it stands, Converge is one of the companies that has benefited from pandemic lockdowns. In late June this year, the company said it had reached more than 8.3 million Philippine homes, or 32.5% of the total number of households in the country, as fears of contagion spark a massive shift to remote work and online schooling. causes.

Converge is expanding beyond its base in Luzon in a bid to cover 55% of Philippine households by 2025. In the first half, residential subscribers nearly doubled year-over-year to 1.36 million.

The company recently connected Visayas and Mindanao with its nationwide backbone, enabling it to offer services in Cebu and Davao City.

At 12:14 a.m., shares in Converge were down 1.59%, followed by major losses in the main index.