Owned by millennial Lim siblings and led by chair, president, and CEO Eugene “Erik” Lim, Top Line listed under the symbol “TOP” at a P3.3 billion valuation, fulfilling their dream to go public since the firm began commercial operations in 2017.
“Today marks the culmination of years of Top Line’s planning, learning and focusing as we witness the realization of the company's dream to be listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE),” said PSE president and CEO Ramon Monzon during the bell-ringing ceremony on Tuesday (April 8).
Top Line operates a successful fuel trading and logistics business, supplying major construction, mining, and transport firms across the Visayas. It's also actively expanding into the region’s fast-growing retail gas market through its Light Fuels brand.
Oversubscribed offer despite market challenges
The Lims listed the firm a day after the PSE Index suffered its worst drop in 30 months, as local investors joined the global market sell-off in reaction to US President Donald Trump’s sweeping trade war.
“While we acknowledge broader market challenges affecting investor sentiment both locally and globally, we are glad for our IPO’s oversubscription, receiving overwhelming support from our institutional and retail investors,” Lim said on Tuesday.
Shares of TOP slipped 3.23 percent to P0.30 apiece on their first day of trading.
Big-time investors support IPO
An industry insider said two large institutional investors cornered a large chunk of IPO shares.
One was a Singapore-based fuel partner while the other was part of the Philequity Management group founded by finance industry veteran and stockbroker Wilson Sy.
The IPO was 20–30 percent oversubscribed at the institutional or large investor level, the insider said.
1st listing from Cebu in 8 years
Erik Lim said he was proud that Top Line was the first Cebu-based IPO since Cebu Landmasters’ debut in 2017.
“There are a lot of great companies in Cebu and other islands of the Philippines,” he said.
“So we hope that with this listing, it could be a catalyst and can pave the way for other provincial companies to list in the Philippines Stock Exchange in the near future,” he added.
Monzon addresses volatile market worries
While the timing was less than ideal, Monzon encouraged more firms to go public, especially if they have a strong growth story to share.
“[A]s I said many times, an IPO is not the be-all or end-all of a company’s existence. It is just the beginning. Being listed gives a company a seal of good housekeeping in terms of good governance, regulatory compliance, and implicit transparency of management,” he said.
“Instead of knocking at the doors of banks for loans, it will now be the banks who will knock on your door to offer you loans,” he said.
“You will now be positively received in the bond market. And of course, you can easily raise capital now at exchange with a follow-on offering or a stock price offering,” he added.
What’s next?
Top Line’s IPO was supported by Investment & Capital Corporation of the Philippines as issue manager, joint lead underwriter, and joint bookrunner.
It was joined by PNB Capital and Investment Corp. as the joint lead underwriter and joint bookrunner.
Following its successful IPO, Top Line will be ramping up its retail fuel footprint in Cebu by tripling its Light Fuels stations with 20 new sites in the pipeline.
In response to a report by InsiderPH, it also disclosed early talks to acquire several service stations, which will further boost the Light Fuels brand.
“Rest assured, that Top Line is committed to maximizing our investors’ shareholder value. And at the same time to give more fresh ideas to the industry, to innovate and incorporate more technologies to our supply chains and expansion network, and to make it even more efficient and future-ready,” Lim said.
Miguel R. Camus has been a reporter covering various domestic business topics since 2009.
