AIF wants to cash in BayanTel option shares

Asian Infrastructure Fund, the regional investment arm of the AIG Group, has demanded payment for its option shares in Bayan Telecommunications Holdings Corp. or BayanTel, one of the most debt-laden units in the Benpres group.

Benpres corporate secretary Enrique Quiason told the Philippine Stock Exchange that the company has received notice last Oct. 25 from AIF, informing them that it is exercising the option to require Benpres to acquire or buy back class A shares held by AIF in BayanTel, which is 47.32-percent owned by Benpres.

Based on a shareholders agreement (SA) entered by Benpres with certain shareholders or option holders of BayanTel, the shareholders have the option to require the repurchase of their shares, under certain conditions, "upon the occurrence of certain events specified in the SA or in 2002, whichever comes first."

It was stipulated that the value of the option shares will be determined only when the shareholders exercise their option in Oct. 2002. Benpres said it was their position that the price should not be more than $52 million (inclusive of subsequent relevant equity calls plus interest) although the option holders have indicated that the value of the option is higher.

Quiason said Benpres has now put the cap on the price of the option shares at $45.5 million, equivalent to a six percent stake in BayanTel, although "AIF is claiming a higher number of shares and a higher purchase price." – Conrado Diaz Jr.