Far Eastern University acquires control of Higher Academia Inc.

Far Eastern University [FEU 848.50 ?6.1%; 16% avgVol] [link] said that its board approved the spending of P11.4 million to acquire 114,286 shares of Higher Academia Inc (HAI). The purchase will bring FEU’s stake in HAI up to 2,914,286 HAI shares, which is good enough for 51% control of the company. 

  MB BOTTOM-LINE:  This is just a tiny drip investment to push FEU’s stake up high enough to take voting control. This move will also allow FEU to incorporate HAI into its financial statements as an official subsidiary. Zooming out, FEU’s stock has done incredibly well over the past three years. It’s up about 50% in that time. There are only two things that complicate this good story: (1) the stock is only now just getting back to its pandemic crash levels, and (2), FEU’s fellow education-related peer, STI [STI 1.64 ?3.5%; 24% avgVol], is up 395% over the same timeframe and is well beyond the depths it sank to during the COVID crash.

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