Ayalas sell 6.9% stake in Ayala Corp for P10.6B

The Ayala family, through Mermac Inc., has sold a 6.9-percent stake worth P10.56 billion in holding firm Ayala Corp. to foreign investors but pointed out that the group would keep control of the highly diversified conglomerate with a 51-percent stake.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Ayala Corp. said about 23.84 million shares of the company were sold through a block sale in the market yesterday at P443 each or a seven- percent discount to the closing price on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank handled the sale.

Ayala Corp. shares closed at P455 yesterday or 4.7 percent lower than the previous close as the main index fell almost two percent. The sale price reflected a discount of 5.2 percent based on the weighted average price of the shares over the last 10 trading days.

Mermac chairman Jaime Zobel de Ayala assured all shareholders that the sale will not result in any change in the governance structure of the conglomerate.

Ayala Corp. explained that the decision to sell the shares is part of a portfolio re-arrangement exercise and is in line with efforts to increase the public float of the conglomerate in view of "heightened investor interest and demand for the shares as Ayala, through its portfolio of businesses, offers a good exposure to the predicted upturn in the economy."

Ayala Corp. holds major stakes in the Philippines’ largest property developer, Ayala Land Inc., second-ranked lender Bank of the Philippine Islands and second leading telecoms firm Globe Telecom Inc.

It also has interests in utilities through Manila Water Co., electronics, automotive dealerships, information technology, and international investments.

The holding firm reported a 250 percent jump in net income in the second quarter of the year to P4.2 billion on strong growth across its business lines, share sales and lower debt costs.

Mermac is a family-owned company established by the late Mr. and Mrs. Joseph McMicking in 1960. It is now owned by the present generation of the Zobel de Ayalas.

Listed since 1976, Ayala Corp. has one of the largest market capitalizations among Philippine companies. Ayala and its other listed subsidiaries account for about a third of the Philippine composite index.

On Sept. 19, 2006, Ayala’s stock closed at P477.50, 52 percent higher from year-end 2005 closing price of P315.00 and the stock’s highest level in more than seven years after it closed at P494.79 on May 10, 1999.

The death of the family matriarch, Mercedes Zobel McMicking, last year fuelled speculations that there could be a management shake-up in Ayala Corp. Over the past decades, McMicking had set the direction of the company and who should run the multi-billion peso conglomerate.