Abacus to divest entire stake in Pacific Online

MANILA, Philippines - Publicly-listed Abacus Consolidated Resources & Holdings Inc. (ACRHI) is planning to unload its entire holdings in Pacific Online Systems Corp.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, ACRHI said its board approved a plan to divest its 18.28 percent stake in Pacific Online, the exclusive online lottery system provider of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Offices in the Visayas and Mindanao.

ACRHI did not say why it was disposing its shares in Pacific Online, which gave them P19.6 million in net earnings in the third quarter of the year or almost triple the same period in 2008.

Aside from this, ACRHI’s board has authorized the company to enter into a memorandum of agreement for the development of the company’s gold mining claims under its subsidiary, Abacus Goldmines Exploration & Development Corp.

ACRHI earlier filed with PNOC-Exploration Corp. a proposal to jointly build a 100 kilometer Batangas-Manila natural gas pipeline project. The proposal is now under evaluation by PNOC-EC and will undergo the competitive challenge process under PNOC’s guidelines and procedures.

ACRHI is acquiring via a share for share swap several affiliate corporations owning properties contiguous or adjacent to properties now held by the Abacus Group. These proposed transactions are expected to be consummated within the second quarter of next year once the 2009 audited financial statements are completed.

ACRHI, through its subsidiaries, engages in the financial services, real estate, and gold and coal mining businesses in the Philippines. Its financial services include arranging project financing for various real estate, logistics and infrastructure projects.

The company’s real estate properties include 117 hectares of land in Matuco and Pagkilatan, Batangas City, which is a residential and townhouse project; 11 hectares of residential and leisure farm project in Rosario, Batangas; 40 square hectares air base expansion and township project in San Salvador, Lipa City; 33 hectares property for hotel and resort development in Malinis, Batangas; and 35 hectares of land for agro-industrial or tourist/recreational development in Mataas na Bayan, Batangas. It holds 102 gold mining claims in San Franciso and Rosario, Agusan del Sur..