ASB seeks SEC nod to sell DBS stake

The ASB Group of Companies has requested the Securities and Exchange Commission to approve the sale of P734 million worth of shares in the Development Bank of Singapore to generate enough cash to finish the construction of the BSA Twin Towers in Ortigas.

The DBS shares are owned by ASB and its controlling stockholders Luke Roxas and will be sold at a price of P95 each, or a total of P734.216 million. The Singapore-based regional banking giant has set up operations in the Philippines, in partnership with the Ayala-controlled Bank of the Philippine Islands.

ASB said the approval of the share disposition would yield a net amount of P200 million which will then go to an asset pool that will be tapped to resume the construction of the BSA Twin Towers.

Since the DBS shares are pledged against the P449 million loan assumed from Equitable PCI Bank, the proceeds of the sale will be applied to the loan and the excess value will be considered as cash inflow available for payment of ASB’s unsecured creditors.

ASB said this move is consistent with their representations to the 700 individual creditors-depositors, consisting of individuals, contractors and suppliers with about P4 billion in collectibles from the company.

It was the unsecured creditors’ group who first signified their support for the approval of the ASB Group’s rehabilitation plan last April.

Under the rehabilitation plan, the ASB Group had proposed to reduce its debt by completing or selling ongoing projects; inviting secured creditors to complete dacion en pago or payment in kind transactions, waiving all penalties; and inviting unsecured creditors to purchase real estate parcels and other assets and offset the amount of their outstanding claims against the purchase price.

The ASB Group is the owner and developer of numerous real estate projects, mostly condominium projects of which 19 are completed and four – the BSA Twin Towers, Garden Heights, the ASB Malayan Tower and Legaspi Place – are currently under various stages of construction.

At end-1999, total assets of ASB Holdings Inc., the group’s parent firm, were valued at P5.38 billion.