Posted on
April 10, 2013 10:05:36 PM [ BusinessWorld Online ]
By Cliff
Harvey C. Venzon, Reporter
METRO PACIFIC
Investments Corp. (MPIC) expects to wrap up a deal within the month to acquire
a controlling stake in a Quezon City-based hospital, a senior official of the
conglomerate said on Tuesday.
“Actually, we are just waiting for the SEC
(Securities and Exchange Commission) approval on the capital increase,” Augusto
P. Palisoc, Jr., chief executive officer of MPIC’s Hospital Group, said in a
telephone interview, referring to De Los Santos General Hospital, Inc.
(DLSGHI).
“The capital
increase will allow us to invest in the hospital,” he added.
“We should be
able to complete the transaction by end of this month. Our target was
mid-April; but to be realistic, I think we will finalize the deal by the end of
this month.”
DLSGHI
officials were not immediately available for comment.
MPIC in
early-December 2012 told the Philippine Stock Exchange that it had signed an
“investment agreement” with all shareholders of DLSGHI -- the corporate owner
and operator of De Los Santos Medical Center (DLSMC). The agreement will “allow
MPIC to participate in a P250-million capital-raising exercise for DLSGHI and
give MPIC a 51% equity ownership in the expanded company,” the disclosure read.
“Out of that
P250 million, Metro Pacific will subscribe around P200 million worth of shares.
The fund-raising activity is structured in such a way that we will end up
owning 51% stake,” said Mr. Palisoc, who had explained in December last year
that fresh funds “will allow us to expand and rejuvenate the existing
facility.”
DLSMC is a
tertiary teaching and training hospital with capacity of 150 beds. The hospital
is located along E. Rodriguez, Sr. Boulevard in Quezon City.
Once the deal
is completed, DLSMC will become the seventh medical facility in MPIC’s growing
chain of hospitals in the Philippines. The new acquisition will also bring
MPIC’s total bed capacity to “approximately 2,000 beds,” MPIC had said.
MPIC
currently has stake in six hospitals with total capacity of about 1,800 beds:
Makati Medical Center, Cardinal Santos Medical Center, Our Lady of Lourdes
Hospital and Asian Hospital, which are all located in Metro Manila; a well as
Riverside Medical Center in Bacolod City and Davao Doctors Hospital in Davao
City.
MPIC Chief
Executive Officer Jose Ma. K. Lim told reporters last month that the firm has
earmarked P3.5 billion this year for acquisition of four more hospitals with
around 200-bed capacity each.
Asked for
updates yesterday, Mr. Palisoc said: “We are still in talks with several.” He
declined to elaborate, citing confidentiality.
MPIC’s net
income grew by 23.8% to P9.692 billion last year from P7.829 billion in 2011,
driven by higher earnings from its subsidiaries, according to its audited
financial statement.
Its hospital
business generated P722 million in core profits last year, up 29% from 2011,
the company said in a statement last month.
Shares of the
conglomerate gained five centavos or 0.89% to close at P5.65 apiece yesterday
from P5.60 each last Monday.
MPIC is the
local unit of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd., which in turn partly owns
Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT).
Hastings
Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest
Holdings, Inc., has a minority stake in BusinessWorld.
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