Lopez Holdings Corp., the listed holding firm of the Lopez group, on Tuesday filed for voluntary delisting of its 4.62 billion common shares from the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).
In its disclosure, the company said it will now delist its shares after First Holdings’ tender offer, which excludes the shares of the family, will result in the breach of the 10 percent minimum public ownership rule.
With the delisting, which may happen by early next year, the Lopez family’s listed firms will be reduced to two—First Holdings and ABS-CBN Corp.—from the previous four.
Lopez Holdings also approved the engagement of independent financial adviser KPMG/R.G. Manabat and Co., which provided a fairness opinion on First Holdings’ tender offer price of P3.85 per share. “It is their opinion that the fair value of the listed common shares of LPZ ranges from P2.34 to P3.92 each as of the cut-off date, September 30, 2020. As such the tender offer price of P3.85 per share is within the computed range of LPZ’s equity value per share,” the company said in its disclosure.
First Holdings has offered to buy a minimum of 908.45 million common shares of its parent company or about 20 percent of the total issued and outstanding common shares to a maximum of 2.06 billion common shares or 45.56 percent of the company. It will buy the said shares at P3.85 apiece.
Lopez Inc., the ultimate parent firm, has already said it will not tender its common shares. Lopez Inc. still owns more than half of the company.
First Holdings’ tender offer price represents a 25-percent premium over Lopez Holdings closing share price of P3.08 on November 27, and a 41-percent, 43-percent and 36-percent premium over its three-month, six-month and 12-month volume weighted average price of P2.74, P2.69 and P2.82, respectively. The tender offer also represents a 22-percent premium over LPZ’s six-month closing high as of November 27 of P3.15, the company said.
First Holdings shares on Tuesday closed at P77.50, while Lopez Holdings shares closed at P3.72 apiece.
Image credits: Nonie Reyes