Lucio Co firm acquires majority stake in Mariwasa

MANILA, Philippines - Puregold owner Lucio L. Co has taken another unit a step closer to going public by way of a backdoor listing.

In a disclosure, Mariwasa Siam Holdings said its majority shareholders sold their shares to Invescap Inc., principally owned by Co., for P292.5 million.

Shareholders Klarence Dy, Glenn Paul Garcia, Gilpatrick R. Garcia and Alfonso Anggala, collectively known as the Anggala Group, unloaded 956.2 million Mariwasa shares.

“The subject shares represent 85 percent of the total issued and outstanding capital stock of the company,” Mariwasa said.

The transaction triggered a mandatory tender offer under bourse rules.

Invescap said it will buy the remaining 15 percent of Mariwasa held by the public at 30.59 centavos per share for a total of P51.63 million.

Early this week, the majority stockholders of Mariwasa said they are in talks for a potential backdoor listing of Co’s renewable energy.

Co was reportedly interested in using Mariwasa as a vehicle for the listing of renewable energy firm Union Energy Corp.

A backdoor listing, which offers a cheaper and faster way to break into the stock market, happens when a listed firm is acquired by an unlisted firm, and the merger will result in a change in business.

In January, Co said Union Energy is looking to acquire more renewable energy projects as it hopes to make its presence felt in the power sector.

Union Energy owns 66 percent of San Jose City I Power Corp., a renewable energy company that will build a P1-billion biomass plant in Nueva Ecija. The plant, which can generate 9.9 megawatts of power, will be the first project of its kind and size in the country that will use 100-percent rice husk.

In November, the family of Mariwasa chairman and president Regina Co Seteng sold their shares to the Anggala Group for P192.33 million, allowing the investor group to own 97.14 percent of Mariwasa.

Prior to the acquisition, Mariwasa conducted numerous reorganization efforts, leaving the company without any operations or assets.

Thailand’s Siam Cement Public Co. Ltd. has unloaded its stake in Mariwasa given the restructuring of its ceramics operations in the Philippines.