NOW Telecom seeks public listing

NOW Telecom Company, Inc., which aims to be the nation’s fourth largest telecommunications company, is exploring the possibility of listing its shares on a stock exchange as an introduction, a listing method without an initial share offering.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange by NOW Corporation, an affiliate of NOW Telecom, it was revealed that the telecommunications company has recently appointed Unicapital Inc. as its financial advisor for a planned corporate restructuring.

Unicapital has also been selected as an Issuance Manager and Financial Advisor for a planned listing by introduction (LBWI) on a stock exchange.

Together with its advisor, NOW Telecom is also evaluating the convenience of listing its shares on the local stock market or within the region, given its medium-term business plans.

“We are moving forward with the corporate restructuring of NOW Telecom to take it to the next level,” said NOW Group of Companies founder and CEO Mel V. Velarde.

He noted that, “NOW Corp. and NOW Telecom were the first to introduce 5G broadband speeds of up to 2 Gbps directly to our existing business customers. Our next step is to extend this service to the residential and consumer markets. “

The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) granted NOW Telecom the extension of its provisional authority (PA) to install, operate and maintain a mobile telecommunications system nationwide.

In the NTC Order, the Palestinian Authority is subject to a number of conditions, the main of which is the infusion of additional capital of at least P1.9 billion based on the capital expenditure of the first two years of P6. 3 billion in the implementation plan presented. and approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the authorized and paid-up capital increase.

The NTC also required that NOW Telecom accelerate the installation of broadband data service in suburban and rural areas and that in each of the project implementation phases, it strictly comply with the 70:30 coverage ratio of the deployment. urban to suburban and rural network. .

“NTC noted the financial support that shareholders and the listed firm NOW Corp. were providing to NOW Telecom as one of the key factors when it decided to rate the latter as the fourth telecommunications company,” said NOW Corporation.

Earlier, NOW Telecom revealed that it plans to spend $ 713 million on its five-year 5G fixed wireless access business plan. The company aims to deploy the 5G FWA network in the National Capital Region and offer a broadband plan of up to 10 gigabits per second of service.

Of the $ 713 million, around $ 152 million will be used in the first three years, primarily to purchase new 5G radio equipment.