Mariwasa minority owners decline to sell shares to Puregold's Co

Not a single minority shareholder of Mariwasa SIAM Holdings took on the offer of Puregold's Lucio Co to buy their shares at P0.03059 apiece. Invescap Inc., a company principally owned by Co, told the Philippine Stock Exchange no minority shareholder tendered any Mariwasa shares as of April 24, when the tender offer period closed. Co was reportedly keen on using Mariwasa as backdoor listing vehicle for his power generation ventures. Last March, the company's majority shareholders signed an investment agreement with Invescap which paved the way for Co to buy an 85-percent interest in Mariwasa. The agreement allowed Invescap to buy 956 million Mariwasa shares for P0.3059 apiece or a total purchase price of P292.5 million. Invescap then proposed to buy the remaining 15 percent interest in Mariwasa, equivalent to 168.796 million shares also at P0.3059 apiece—a steep discount from the current price of P3.59 per share. — VS, GMA News