IFC to decide All Asia fate

The International Finance Corp. (IFC), the private investment arm of the World Bank, is expected to come out with a decision soon on whether to liquidate or recapitalize cash-strapped investment house All Asia Capital and Trust Corp.

IFC country manager Vipul Prakash said the IFC is talking to other shareholders of All Asia and re-evaluating the situation before coming up with a consensus to determine the fate of All Asia.

"We might have a decision before the end of the first quarter," Prakash said, adding that IFC is deeply concerned about its exposure in All Asia.

It has taken close to a year before the major shareholders of All Asia could act on the company which was hit hard last year by pre-terminations and other failed investments.

Prakash said that at this point "anything is possible," including liquidation which shareholders are trying to avoid.

The stockholders of All Asia include the Cagayan Electric Power and Light Co., Lombard Asian Private Investment Corp., the Tanco family which owns Asian Terminals, Inc., Land Bank of the Philippines, the Alcantara family of Alsons, Chemical Industries of the Philippines, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines Retirement and Separation Benefits System.

Last year, All Asia asked its shareholders to infuse fresh capital but there has been no agreement yet on how much capital would be infused into the company. It was estimated that between P1.2 billion to P2.5 billion would be needed to recapitalize the company.

All Asia suffered liquidity problems after nervous investors preterminated their investments after the collapse of another investment house, Urbancorp Investment Inc., a subsidiary of Urban Bank.

To partially settle its obligations, All Asia last year, reportedly pledged its triple A debt papers to enable it to borrow funds from the Bankers Association of the Philippine’s (BAP) liquidity pool set up in May last year to assist troubled financial institutions.

All Asia also drafted a recovery plan and was in talks with creditors to explore options such as debt-to-equity conversion, debt payment reschedule and fresh capital infusion. – Rocel Felix