Posted on June 06, 2014 08:04:05 PM [
BusinessWorld Online ]
ALPHALAND Corp. said it settled a
dispute with shareholders by agreeing to transfer some assets to two
shareholders in exchange for cash and their departure from the company.
In a statement attached to a disclosure yesterday, Alphaland said it
signed a definitive agreement with Masrickstar Corp. (MC) and Alphaland
Holdings Pte. Ltd. (AH), to transfer some Alphaland property to a
newly-incorporated firm owned by the two.
The assets are 100% of Alphaland
Makati Tower, Inc., which owns the Alphaland Tower along Ayala Avenue in Makati
City; 100% of Alphaland Marina Club, Inc. and Alphaland Marina Corp., the
developer of Alphaland Marina & Country Club project in the Manila Bay
reclamation area in Paranaque City; the 50% stake of the Alphaland group in
Alphaland Bay City Corp., which is a joint venture of the Alphaland and the
Wenceslao groups to develop the 31-hectare Alphaland Bay City Project in Aseana
Business Park in Paranaque City; and 60% ownership in the Boracay Gateway
project, an unincorporated joint venture between the firm and Akean Resorts
Corp. to develop the latter's around 500-hectare land in Caticlan and Nabas,
Aklan.
In return, AH and MC will divest from
Alphaland and pay the firm P2.5 billion in cash in two tranches.
"As a result of these
transactions, AH and MC will no longer be shareholders of the Company, and the
Company will no longer have any stake in the transferred interests,"
Alphaland's Corporate Information Officer Cliburn Anthony A. Orbe wrote in the
statement.
The company also remain in possession
of the following assets: Alphaland Southgate Tower and Mall; Alphaland Makati
Place, including The City Club; Alphaland Balesin Island Club; and Alphaland
Baguio Mountain Lodge Homes.
The group of Roberto V. Ongpin, former
Trade minister during the Marcos administration and the country's 14th richest
man, will remain the majority owner of Alphaland.
Alphaland is a joint venture between
Mr. Ongpin and the London-based private equity fund Ashmore. The partnership
turned sour after the Ongpin side alleged that Ashmore committed
misrepresentation in the course of a share sale.
In January, the Ongpin group secured
its hold on Alphaland after filing a criminal complaint with the Securities and
Exchange Commission against two Ashmore officials for allegedly
"misrepresenting a supposed P942-million deal involving the sale of 2.50%
of Alphaland stock on December 31, 2012."
That sale enabled Alphaland to raise
its public ownership level to 10.53%,
thus complying with the bourse's 10%
minimum requirement for listed firms.
Two months later, the Philippine Stock
Exchange (PSE) moved to delist Alphaland, charging it with "willful
intent" to mislead the bourse and the investing public. In April,
Alphaland announced that it was now compliant with the minimum public ownership
rule, saying it issued a total of 109 million new common shares to three
foreign investors, raising its public float to 11.02% from 8.04%.
Trading in Alphaland shares was
suspended last Jan. 20 after Alphaland filed the charges against Ashmore.
Alphaland net income rose 46.28% to
P2.75 billion in the nine months to September 2013, from P1.88 billion a year
earlier.
Revenue rose 34.62% to P530.91
million, while costs and expenses doubled to P667.28 million from P321.99
million.
Other income increased 41% to P3.186
billion.
Alphaland last traded at P17.48.
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