Ang-led firm continues to buy SMC shares

MANILA, Philippines - The private firm led by San Miguel Corp. (SMC) president Ramon S. Ang continues on its buying spree of SMC shares from the open market.

In a regulatory filing, SMC said Privado Holdings Corp. bought two million shares of the diversified conglomerate worth P173.14 million.

The shares were acquired from the open market at P83.78 to P87.44 each from July 26 to 30, it added.

The series of purchases came at the heels of Privado Holding’s decision to accumulate SMC shares, which were battered by market speculations last week.

The move was seen as SMC executives’ vote of confidence on the conglomerate despite negative market sentiments.

Last week, Privado Holdings Corp. bought 3.44 million common shares of SMC worth P297.89 million.

Privado Holdings, which is not one of SMC’s top 100 stockholders as of end-June, is controlled by Ang with a 62.5-percent stake. The remaining 37.5 percent is owned by Thomas Tan, a board director of SMC.

On July 18, SMC  shareslost as much as 9.6 percent to P76.40 in early trades before recovering in the afternoon to settle 1.49 percent higher at P85 apiece.

SMC clarified that it was not the company referred to in a report by the International Monetary Fund, which warned that a “highly leveraged conglomerate” is in danger of default, although that risk is currently “low.”

The panic prompted Ang, also SMC’s chief operating officer, to announce that the conglomerate is ready to buy back shares and that it is in a healthy financial condition.

SMC, the Philippines’ most acquisitive company, is raising $4 billion from a planned sale of its power assets to fund expansion in industries and infrastructure.