First Pacific acquires 8.6% stake in Lepanto Mining

MANILA, Philippines - Hong Kong-based conglomerate First Pacific Co. Ltd. has reportedly acquired a substantial stake in Lepanto Consolidated Mining Co. through a special block sale coursed through the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) yesterday.

A total of 2.83 billion shares, equivalent to 8.6 percent of Lepanto’s outstanding capital, was crossed at the exchange yesterday valued at P763.4 million or P0.27 per share.

Sources said the buyer of the shares was First Pacific, where telecommunications magnate Manuel V. Pangilinan sits as managing director and chief executive officer of the Hong kong-based firm while the seller was reportedly businessman-stockbroker Felipe Yap.

This acquisition is in addition to First Pacific’s mining assets in the Philippines consisting of Philex Mining Corp., the country’s most profitable miner and copper-gold producer. First Pacific owns 46 percent of Philex.

Pangilinan earlier said First Pacific was interested in Lepanto’s unit, Far Southeast Gold Resources Inc., which operates in Benguet.

Just last month, Pangilinan said the group was in talks with Manila Mining Corp., another company owned by Yap which owns mineral sites near Philex’s Bayugo and Boyongan projects in Surigao del Norte.

Manila Mining owns 1,165 hectares of property in the Northern Mindanao province.

Lepanto A shares closed 9 percent higher yesterday at P.245 each share while the B shares rose 6.38 percent to P.25 apiece.

The acquisition is in line with First Pacific’s bid to further beef up its investment portfolio in the Philippines through acquisitions as well as enhance shareholder value. About 80 percent of its assets are invested in the Philippines, which include a majority stake in infrastructure and services firm Metro Pacific Investments Corp., Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. and Metro Pacific Tollways Corp.