Vol. XXII, No. 110 [ Business World Online ]
Tuesday, January 6, 2009 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
THE CORPORATE regulator has approved the merger of three units of listed holding firm A. Soriano Corp. to improve management efficiency.
Anscor Property Holdings, Inc. was the surviving entity after merging with sisters Anscor Land, Inc. and Anscor Insurance Brokers, Inc. The firms’ boards and shareholders approved the merger on April 24.
Anscor Property will no longer issue additional shares since the companies are all wholly owned by A. Soriano, documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) showed. The surviving firm absorbed P156.79 million in assets and assumed liabilities worth P6.1 million.
Joshua L. Castro, assistant corporate secretary of Anscor Property, said the group had opted to merge the units to make operations and administration more efficient.
He added that the merger means having only one entity to comply with the regulator’s reportorial requirements.
"The two firms [that were folded into Anscor Property] were practically inactive already, so we decided to merge the companies instead of closing them so [Anscor Property could absorb their assets]," he said in a telephone interview.
Mr. Castro could not immediately say how long the two companies had been inactive. He added that A. Soriano had kept Anscor Property since it serves as the group’s property holding arm.
Anscor Land had partnered with construction firm DMCI Holdings, Inc. to build mid-end townhouses in Quezon City. — Don Gil K. Carreon
