Mariwasa to restructure despite failed tender offer

MANILA, Philippines - A unit of Puregold owner Lucio L. Co has failed to buy out the minority shareholders in dormant holding firm Mariwasa Siam Holdings Inc.

But this will not prevent the transformation of Mariwasa into another listed subsidiary of the Co family as corporate regulators have given their go-signal for the company’s reorganization.

“At the close of the tender offer period, no tender of shares was received by the buyer from the minority stockholders,” Invescap Inc. said in a disclosure.

Invescap, which is principally owned by Co, sought to buy the remaining 15 percent of Mariwasa held by the public at 30.59 centavos per share for a total of P51.63 million. Shares of Mariwasa closed at P3.61 each as of end-April.

In March, Invescap bought 85 percent of Mariwasa from the Anggala Group for P292.5 million, making the holding firm a vehicle for a backdoor listing of a renewable energy firm of the Co family.

The transaction triggered a tender offer that started on March 25 and ended on April 24.

Meanwhile, Mariwasa disclosed that it secured the approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission to change its name to Da Vinci Capital Holdings Inc.

The corporate regulator also allowed the extension of the corporate life of Mariwasa by another 50 years from Nov. 5, 2013 and the reduction of the directors to seven from 14.

The Co family 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 achieve a listing status, occurs when a listed firm is acquired by an unlisted firm and the merger will result in a change in business.

In January, Co said he is looking to acquire more renewable energy projects as he hopes to make his 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, last year, 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. unloaded its stake in Mariwasa due to the restructuring of its ceramics operations in the Philippines.