TOP Line Business Development Corp. (Top Line), a fuel distribution company in Central Visayas, has successfully listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) on Tuesday, April 8, 2025.
Its market debut marked the first Cebu-based company to complete an initial public offering (IPO) in almost a decade.
Top Line had an IPO of 2,148,440,000 primary common shares with an overallotment option of up to 214,844,000 secondary shares at a price of P0.31 per share. The company’s IPO was oversubscribed, raising approximately P732.6 million.
Top Line’s shares began trading on the Main Board of the PSE under the ticker symbol “TOP” with a public float of 22 percent.
The net proceeds from the IPO will fund Top Line’s vertical integration, enhancing flexibility and reliability in fuel supply and importation and expansion plans, penetrating the retail market of Central Visayas.
Top Line plans to expand its retail segment by constructing an additional 20 service stations, strengthening its market presence in Cebu Province and boosting its revenue streams. It will also acquire a five-million-liter fuel tanker, which will raise the company’s fuel storage capacity to 10 million liters.
“These activities are part of Top Line’s strategic blueprint that will help achieve its longterm vision of supporting the country’s economic advancement and energy security efforts through its various business solutions,” said PSE president and chief executive officer (CEO) Ramon Monzon.
Erik Lapasaran Lim, Top Line’s chairman, president and CEO, expressed his gratitude to investors for their overwhelming support. He emphasized the company’s commitment to maximizing shareholder value, innovating and incorporating more technologies into its supply chains and expansion network.
PSE Leap
Monzon also shared TOP’s journey from a Road to IPO forum participant to becoming a PSE Leap client in 2022, and now a publicly listed company (PLC).
PSE Leap (Listing Engagement and Assistance Program) is a free handholding initiative that provides a comprehensive one-stop service for potential listing applicants.
Monzon reiterated that a company’s IPO only marks the start of the life of a PLC.
“As I’ve said ad infinitum, an IPO is not the be-all and 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. Instead of knocking at the doors of banks for loans, it will be the banks who will now knock on your doors to offer loans. You will now be positively received in the bond market. And of course, you can easily raise capital at the Exchange with a follow-on offering or a stock rights offering,” he said.
The Investment & Capital Corp. of the Philippines served as Top Line’s issue manager, joint lead underwriter and joint bookrunner for the IPO, with PNB Capital and Investment Corp. as the joint lead underwriter and joint bookrunner.
TOP is the fourth PSE Leap client that has successfully joined PSE’s roster of listed firms. (KOC)