[ Malaya.com.ph ] October 19, 2009
BY ALBERT CASTRO
Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (Metro Pacific) this weekend said that it intends to increase its stake in Medical Doctors, Inc., owner and operator of the hospital Makati Medical Center.
Metro Pacific said it intends to subscribe to all its entitlement for the 181,226 stock rights offering of the company which will raise an estimated P208.41 million at P1,150 per share. Makati Med is currently improving its facilities, expanding capacities and upgrading equipments.
Metro Pacific currently has a 32.39 percent stake in Medical Doctors out of the P600 million convertible notes it acquired from the firm in 2007.
With the new rights offering, this is seen to increase to 36.35 percent, including the take up of shares that will not be subscribed into by other shareholders, the company said.
"It is subscribing to and acquiring all the shares corresponding to its stock rights entitlement and additionally offering to subscribe to any shares that will not be subscribed by the other shareholders of MDI," the company told regulators.
Metro Pacific is bullish with the local health care sector, eyeing to expand its hospital beds to 3,000 from the current 1,000.
It has a 33 percent interest in the 250-bed Davao Doctors Hospital, and has a 20-year contract with the 250-bed Archdiocese of Manila to operate Cardinal Santos Medical Center, aside from the 500-bed Makati Medical Center.
The group intends to invest P2 billion for its health care business for the next three years, until 2012, for the upgrade of equipment, new rooms on the existing hospital portfolio.
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