MANILA - The Philippines' largest hybrid rice seeds producer, SL Agritech Corp., said it might revive plans for an initial public offering (IPO) next year, looking to raise up to P8 billion.

The hybrid seeds and premium rice manufacturer shelved its
proposed IPO in 2012 when debt woes in Greece unsettled global
markets. The Philippine bourse has risen strongly in recent months to be the second-best performing equity market in Southeast Asia this year.

"We were able to expand rapidly in the past two years. By the third quarter or fourth quarter next year, we may go into IPO," SL Agritech chairman Henry Lim Bon Liong told reporters late on Wednesday.

SL Agritech plans to sell a 25-percent stake to the public, Lim said, adding that the fresh capital raised would help speed up expansion plans.

The company, which exports premium rice to the United Arab Emirates, Canada and the United States, produces hybrid rice
seeds in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Myanmar and Vietnam. It plans to
enter the Indian and Nigerian markets.

Only two companies have debuted on the Philippine Stock market this year. Golden Haven Memorial Park Inc. sold $16.7 million of shares, while Cemex Holdings Philippines Inc. raised $532.5 million in Southeast Asia's second largest IPO this year.