Tuesday, June 24, 2008 [ www.manilatimes.net ]
ATR KimEng Financial Corp. (ATRK) told the Philippine Stock Exchange on Monday that it shed control over its wholly owned property unit to prevent a breach in foreign ownership limits.
In a disclosure, ATRK said it is “no longer bound by the 40-percent foreign ownership limit” as ATR Holdings Inc., a Filipino firm and parent of the listed firm, bought new voting preferred B shares of ATR KimEng Land equivalent to 60-percent control of the property firm.
Renato Leveriza Jr., ATRK director and executive vice president, told The Manila Times that the subscription rate was at P0.01 per share. “It was a reduction in control but the economic benefit is almost the same,” he said.
Leveriza said that with the reduction of ATRK’s control, the nationality of the financial corporation is not passed on to the property firm. Under Philippine laws, foreigners can only own up to a maximum of 40 percent of property firms in the country. Upon the subscription, ATR KimEng Land will be predominantly owned by Filipinos.
“This development would have allowed the company to be owned up to 60 percent by foreign shareholders, the limit applicable to an investment house subsidiary. However, given the company’s 70-percent ownership that still owns land, the new foreign ownership on the company’s shares is now at 57.14 percent,” ATRK’s disclosure read.
ATR KimEng Land, formerly Sucat Land Corp., signed a joint venture agreement with Landco Pacific Corp. to develop the 9.7-hectare TRIbeca along the East Service Road, South Expressway in Sucat, Muntinlupa City. Landco is a subsidiary of Metro Pacific Investments Corp.
In March, ATRK said its Singapore-listed shareholder, KimEng Holdings Ltd., signed a strategic alliance agreement with Mitsubishi UFJ Securities Co. Ltd., a unit of Japan’s biggest bank. Under the agreement, the two financial companies would form a partnership in equity brokerage, asset management, and other businesses. The partnership will leverage on Mitsubishi UFJ Securities’ extensive distribution network in Japan to raise funds for management.
KimEng would contribute its expertise in research, brokerage, and investments outside Japan. Mitsubishi UFJ Securities said it will develop and sell new products that target retail customers in Japan. -- Likha C. Cuevas-Miel
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