PSE refers Meralco tender offer issue to SEC
12/01/2009 | 04:49 PM
The Philippine Stock Exchange has deferred to the Securities and Exchange Commission to resolve whether or not the group of First Pacific Co. Ltd. should be required to make a tender offer to shareholders of Manila Electric Co.
Metro Pacific Investments Corp. earlier signed an agreement with First Philippine Holdings Corp. (FPHC) for the acquisition of approximately a 6.7 percent stake in Meralco in the form of a call option that can be exercised at any time from the date that the call option is granted until the end of March 2010.
Once the call option is exercised, MPIC and Pilipino Telephone Corp., a subsidiary of telecommunications giant Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., will own about 41 percent of Meralco, above the 35-percent tender offer threshold.
“The PSE will refer the tender offer issue to SEC as we do not have jurisdiction to enforce the Securities Regulation Code (SRC) tender offer provision and its implementing rules and regulations. That power belongs to the SEC," said Francis Lim, PSE president, in a statement.
Lim also said the decision to refer the matter to the SEC is consistent with what the PSE has done in the past in the case of cement manufacturer Holcim Philippines Inc. and the case of San Miguel Corp. with its acquisition into Petron Corp.
The PSE earlier requested for the position of the SEC on the application of the mandatory tender offer rule in the case of SMC’s option to acquire 50.1 percent of Petron and separately, the purchase by Cemco Holdings Inc. of majority shares of Union Cement Holdings Inc., a majority shareholder of Union Cement Corp. now known as Holcim Philippines.
Rule 19 of the Securities Regulation Code on Mandatory Tender Offers states that, “any person or group of persons acting in concert who intends to acquire 35 percent or more of equity shares in a public company shall disclose such intention and contemporaneously make a tender offer for the percent sought to all holders of such class."
State-run pension fund Government Service Insurance System has insisted that the group of MPIC and PLDT , which are both controlled by Hong Kong conglomerate First Pacific Co. Ltd., must offer to buy shares of other shareholders at P300 each, the same price tag that the group gave for the 6.7-percent share of the Lopez’s First Holdings. - GMANews.TV
Metro Pacific Investments Corp. earlier signed an agreement with First Philippine Holdings Corp. (FPHC) for the acquisition of approximately a 6.7 percent stake in Meralco in the form of a call option that can be exercised at any time from the date that the call option is granted until the end of March 2010.
Once the call option is exercised, MPIC and Pilipino Telephone Corp., a subsidiary of telecommunications giant Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., will own about 41 percent of Meralco, above the 35-percent tender offer threshold.
“The PSE will refer the tender offer issue to SEC as we do not have jurisdiction to enforce the Securities Regulation Code (SRC) tender offer provision and its implementing rules and regulations. That power belongs to the SEC," said Francis Lim, PSE president, in a statement.
Lim also said the decision to refer the matter to the SEC is consistent with what the PSE has done in the past in the case of cement manufacturer Holcim Philippines Inc. and the case of San Miguel Corp. with its acquisition into Petron Corp.
The PSE earlier requested for the position of the SEC on the application of the mandatory tender offer rule in the case of SMC’s option to acquire 50.1 percent of Petron and separately, the purchase by Cemco Holdings Inc. of majority shares of Union Cement Holdings Inc., a majority shareholder of Union Cement Corp. now known as Holcim Philippines.
Rule 19 of the Securities Regulation Code on Mandatory Tender Offers states that, “any person or group of persons acting in concert who intends to acquire 35 percent or more of equity shares in a public company shall disclose such intention and contemporaneously make a tender offer for the percent sought to all holders of such class."
State-run pension fund Government Service Insurance System has insisted that the group of MPIC and PLDT , which are both controlled by Hong Kong conglomerate First Pacific Co. Ltd., must offer to buy shares of other shareholders at P300 each, the same price tag that the group gave for the 6.7-percent share of the Lopez’s First Holdings. - GMANews.TV
