This was the statement made by United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) chairman Edward Go even as he sought clearance from the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) to begin looking for investors willing to overlook its unresolved ownership question.
According to Go, a draft memorandum of agreement has been prepared and submitted to the PCGG intended to be signed by the government and Eduardo Cojuangco Jr., the two main contending parties to the ownership dispute.
Go said the MOA would serve as an interim agreement that would allow the bank to recapitalize while waiting for the courts to settle the ownership question which has been the major hindrance in getting new investors to infuse fresh capital into the bank.
Despite these efforts, however, Go stressed that UCPB is not for sale. This sets aside the offers from effectively setting aside the initial inquiries made by the Fubon Group of Taiwan and Newbridge Capital Ltd. of Singapore.
It was reported earlier that the two groups were both interested in acquiring the bank but only if it could be sold lock, stock and barrel.
Ideally, Go said the MOA should be signed by all the litigants in the case now pending in various courts.
If no one could agree on who owns the bank, at least the parties could agree that it needs new investors in order to survive.
Go’s strategy, however, is not expected to prosper since letting in new investors could mean dilution to all the parties claiming ownership of the bank.
The UCPB had been considering two possible ways out of the deadlock that has left the bank unable to take advantage of its position in the market to raise much-needed funds and recapitalize its operations.
The first option, Go said, is to convince UCPB’s stockholders to sell all their holdings and put the proceeds in escrow. However, this would mean that any new investor would have to not only buy the shares in escrow but also put up the additional capital.
The second option, according to Go, was for UCPB’s shareholders to agree on being diluted so that the bank could attract a strategic partner to buy into the bank and infuse the funds.
"Central to these options is the need for all the protagonists to reach at least an interim agreement that would still ensure the protection of their interests regardless of how the ownership conflict would be resolved," he said. – Des Feriols