Gov't may be forced to hold on to 12% of PNB

The government may end up holding a 12 percent equity in Philippine National Bank (PNB) even after it disposes of its remaining 30 percent stake in the bank if it goes ahead with its plan to tender an offer to PNB minority shareholders, Finance Secretary Jose T. Pardo said yesterday.

Pardo said the government has to make an offer to buy the shares of PNB's minority stockholders, particularly the Hong Kong-based Templeton Asset Management, just to appease them.

The firm complained to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) early this month that it was not included in the negotiation for the sale of PNB shares.

The minority shareholders hold a 20 percent equity in the bank of which 12.9 percent belongs to Templeton, a global fund manager based in Hong Kong.

"We are hard-pressed to respond to the minority shareholders group," he said. "We are studying a formula that will allow us to make a tender offer to minority shareholders."

Three firms -- the Yuchengco-controlled Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., a US consortium led by Filipina billionaire Loida Nicolas Lewis, and a European bank-- have been qualified to join the bidding for PNB on June 9.

Under the plan being worked out, Pardo said the government will have to acquire the shares of Templeton and other minority shareholders in the bank at a price similar to what it would get from the winning bidder.

However, Pardo explained not all of the 20 percent shares held by the minority shareholders will have to be bought by the government. Under existing rules, government has to acquire only a portion of the entire 20 percent which based on the formula drawn up by the finance department is equivalent to 12 percent.

"If the plan is accepted by the minority shareholders, at the most, we will be holding a 12 percent share in the bank," he explained.

Pardo said the government will make the offer to the other shareholders after the June 9 bidding is over.

After the bid price has been opened and the winner has been declared, Pardo said the government will then offer to buy the remaining shareholders of the bank. --