UBS AG buys 752,780 PureFoods shares

UBS AG, a global financial services company, bought 752,780 common shares of San Miguel Pure Foods, exercising its over-allotment option of 2,500,000 shares.

 

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) Friday, PureFoods said the sale was  in line the role of USB as the price stabilization agent for the shares sale.

 

In a letter to the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission, UBS Hong Kong directors Pascal Guttieres  and Ada Watt said the 752,780 common shares covered the total number of shares it bought as of Dec. 26. 

 

“Payment for and delivery of the Option Shares shall take place not later than 12 p.m. (Manila Time) 28 Dec. 2012,” Wat and UBS associate director C. Lau told PureFoods in a separate letter. 

 

Last November, parent San Miguel Corp. said it has priced a secondary share offer of up to 25 million shares in its food unit at the low end of  the indicative range and at a steep discount against the market price.

 

SMC was selling a 15 percent stake in PureFoods at P240 per share, or about a third of the current market price of P680 – at that time – to raise P6 billion ($146 million).

 

SMC had announced a price range of P240 to P300 per Pure Foods share ahead of an international roadshow held in November.

 

The offer, which includes the 2.5 million shares to cover over-allotments, was crossed at the stock exchange on Nov. 21, according to San Miguel.

 

The share sale brought PureFoods's public float to 15 percent from 0.08 percent, which gave the company compliant status with the PSE rule on the 10-percent minimum public ownership of publicly listed firms. — VS, GMA News