Gov't, Tan may sign deal on PNB shares this week

The National Government hopes to be able to finally sign on Tuesday, a formal agreement with Lucio Tan regarding the joint sale of the government and Tan's shares in Philippine National Bank.

The agreement will bind government and Tan to sell their shares in PNB as one block.

According to Finance Secretary Jose T. Pardo, the government has already sent back to Tan a revised memorandum of agreement (MOA) that sets the terms and conditions for the block sale.

The revised MOA addresses the objections earlier raised by Tan. Most importantly, the revised MOA now supposedly stipulates a floor price of P160 per share.

The government had prepared a first draft of the MOA which Tan rejected due to some provisions and the exclusion of a fixed floor price for the shares. Tan wants a floor price of P160 per share, roughly the price he paid for his PNB shares.

Anything lower than P160 per share would mean that Tan would lose from the sale of his PNB shares.

The formal signing will take place in Malacañang.

Once there is a MOA, government can finalize its plans for the public bidding of PNB, even as the government continues to work on convincing a foreign fund manager, Templeton Asset Management, to agree to a block sale.

While the government is keen on keeping its schedule to privatize PNB, both Pardo and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Gov. Rafael B. Buenaventura assured that government is not about to sell PNB at a loss.

If the price is not right, both officials said, government may delay the sale and wait for a more opportune time.

Even though the sale of PNB is being urged by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, Pardo and Buenaventura said the two institutions are not unreasonable if a delay is necessitated to get a better price. --