Posted on
June 20, 2013 10:35:47 PM [ BusinessWorld Online ]
THE
SECURITIES and Exchange Commission (SEC) has ordered the dissolution of six
firms under Uniwide Group after regulators denied the firm’s bid for corporate
rehabilitation, the company said in disclosure yesterday.
“The
dissolution of all companies in the group, namely: Uniwide Sales, Inc.; Uniwide
Holdings, Inc.; Naic Resources & Development Corp.; Uniwide Sales Realty
and Resources Corp.; First Paragon Corp.; and Uniwide Sales Warehouse Club,
Inc. is hereby ordered,” the decision of the corporate regulator, which was
attached to the company’s disclosure to the stock exchange, read.
At the same
time, SEC also denied the group’s bid for a corporate rehabilitation.
In the
decision dated May 30, 2013, the SEC said it found several reasons leading to
the firm’s denial of corporate restructuring.
“The special
hearing panel observed that at the time of filing of the petition for
rehabilitation on 25 June 1999, petitioner-appellants were solvent as their
assets (P19.86 billion) exceeded liabilities (P11.10 billion), but they had
difficulty in meeting their obligations,” the 28-page en banc decision read.
Petitioner-appellants
“have very high debt-to-asset ratio,” it added. A debt ratio greater than 1.0
means the company has negative net worth and is technically bankrupt.
“The special
hearing panel also saw the enormous capital deficit of the
petitioner-appellants,” the SEC added.
Uniwide was
established by the Gow family as a textile bargain house in January 1975.
It used to be
one of the leading retail companies in the Philippines.
Shares of
Uniwide Holdings were last traded on Jan. 18, 2010. It closed then at P0.135
apiece before trading of its shares was suspended. -- CHCV
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