Lopez Holdings announces stock exchange exit

Lopez Holdings Corp., the listed conglomerate of the Lopez family, on Tuesday announced its intent to exit from the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).

In a disclosure to the PSE, Lopez Holdings said its board of directors “authorized the filing of a petition for voluntary delisting of the corporation from the Main Board of the Philippine Stock Exchange.”

The conglomerate’s planned exit from the local bourse is part of an effort to consolidate and streamline its corporate structure.

“It is always a good sign when you see an offer for your shares with a significant premium over the market price. We will be happy for the shareholders who decide to avail of this opportunity to liquidate their investment,” said Lopez Holdings president, chief operating officer and chief finance officer Salvador Tirona.

The Lopez Holdings delisting was due to Lopez-led renewable energy firm First Philippine Holdings’ (FPH) plan to make a tender offer to acquire a minimum of 20% and a maximum of 45.56% of the total issued and outstanding common shares of Lopez Holdings from all of its shareholders at a price of P3.85 per share.

The shares owned by Lopez Inc., the Lopez Group’s ultimate parent entity, are excluded from FPH’s tender offer.

“If FPH’s tender offer is successful, LPZ will be delisted as part of the Lopez Group’s effort to consolidate the ownership of Lopez Holdings and to streamline the Lopez Group’s corporate structure by reducing the number of Group holding companies currently listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange from two to just one,” Tirona said.

FPH’s tender offer price of P3.85 apiece represents a 25% premium over Lopez Holdings’ closing share price of P3.08 on November 27, 2020 and a 41%, 43%, and 36% premium over the conglomerate’s three-month, six-month and 12-month volume-weighted average price of P2.74, P2.69, and P2.82, respectively.

FPH’s Tender Offer Price also represents a 22% premium over Lopez Holdings’ six-month closing high as of November 27, 2020 of P3.15 apiece.

The board of directors of Lopez Holdings had approved the engagement of an independent financial advisor to provide a fairness opinion on FPH’s tender offer price.

Lopez Holdings was incorporated in 1993 by the Lopez family to serve as the holding company for its investments in major development sectors.

Its major investees are publicly listed ABS-CBN Corporation and First Philippine Holdings Corporation. — DVM, GMA News