Abacus Consolidated to sell Batangas project lots in January

MANILA, Philippines- Listed Abacus Consolidated Resources Holdings Inc. has announced that its mixed-use project in Batangas will begin selling lots early next year. In a statement, Abacus Consolidated said 30 lots of the 82-hectare Punta Verde, its joint project with Solar Resources Inc., will be available for selling starting January 2009. Each lot has an average size of 220 square meters. Some 100 lots more will be available by mid-2009. The "eco-friendly and recreational resort-and-residences community" project is located in Matuco Point near Batangas City. The project is designed by renowned architect Felino "Jun" Palafox. "(Punta Verde) will preserve the lush greenery of Matuco Point, where nature parks and tree farms will also be developed. A water treatment plant will also be built for the property, which extends to the Verde Island Passage, a rich marine sanctuary," the company said. Abacus Consolidated's partner, Solar Resources, is the property development arm of Solar Entertainment Corp. The company’s real estate unit, Abacus Global Technologies Inc., is seeking to sell shares by way of introduction at the Second Board of the Philippine Stock Exchange after its listed parent issued property dividends to its shareholders. The company plans to sell 340 million common shares with par value of P1 each, documents from the Securities and Exchange Commission said. AbaGT has an authorized capital stock of P500 million, of which P340 million has been subscribed and fully paid. The company’s listing by way of introduction does not involve an initial public offering as indicated under the revised listing rules. AbaGT will be allowed to list after its shares were allotted to 300 Abacus Consolidated stockholders as approved on January 24 this year. “(The listing is authorized) for securities that are of such amount and are so widely held that their adequate marketability when listed can be assumed," the SEC document read. The company, then named G-Tech Philippines Inc. in 1993, started out as a business that leased online lottery equipment for Pacific Online Systems Corp. A year after it was acquired by Abacus Consolidated, it changed its corporate name to Abacus Gaming Technologies Inc. In 2004, it changed its name again into AbaGT. In April, it sold a portion of its holdings in its lottery equipment leasing business. In August, it acquired two hotels in Batangas City and a 30-hectare land in the same area. It later sold its Pacific Online holdings to its parent. - GMANews.TV