Delay seen in sale of MicroAsia stake in catering unit

MANILA, Philippines – The completion of the sale of the 13 percent stake of listed MacroAsia Corp. in its in-flight catering subsidiary to its Singaporean partner has been deferred to March.

Lawyer Marivic Moya, compliance officer of MacroAsia, informed the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) the completion of the sale of a portion of its stake in MacroAsia Catering Services Inc. (MACS) to its Singaporean partner SATS Ltd. is expected in end-March pending regulatory approvals.

“As the parties are still in the process of obtaining the relevant regulatory approvals, the completion is now expected to take place on or before March 31,” Moya told the PSE.

MacroAsia entered into a sale and purchase agreement with SATS in July last year.

Under the agreement, MacroAsia agreed to sell 162,500 shares or about 13 percent of the total issued and outstanding capital stock of MACS to SATS.

This would reduce the stake of MacroAsia in MACS to 67 percent from 80 percent and increase the interest of SATS in the in-flight catering firm to 33 percent from 20 percent.

Moya said the closing date of the transaction was originally scheduled last Oct. 31 but has been delayed pending the relevant regulatory approvals.

MacroAsia said SATS agreed to pay an initial price of P168.8 million and a potential earn-out consideration subject to the achievement of certain targets stipulated in the sale agreement.

Aside from this joint venture in airline catering through MACS, MacroAsia and SATS have formed a new company, MacroAsia SATS Food Industries Corp.

MACS is currently operating in a two-hectare facility inside the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).