Metro Pacific tender offer hiked to P5.20 per share

The tender offer for Metro Pacific Investments Corp.’s (MPIC) publicly-held shares has been increased by over 12% after the earlier valuation was deemed too low, as the company seeks to push through with plans to delist from the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).

In a regulatory filing on Tuesday, MPIC said a consortium of major shareholders — Metro Pacific Holdings Inc. (MPHI), GT Capital Holdings Inc., Mit-Pacific Infrastructure Holdings Inc. (MPIH), and MIG Holdings Incorporated — is looking to buy out the 36.6% common shares held by minority shareholders at P5.20 apiece on an all-cash basis.

Shares in MPIC closed Monday, July 3, at P4.79 apiece. Trading of the shares has since been voluntarily suspended to give participants time to digest such development.

The tender offer notice was received by MPIC on July 3, reflecting a 12.31% increase from the initial price of P4.62 per share in the initial notice on April 26.

The updated price also reflects a 37% premium over the one-year volume weighted average price (VWAP) of common shares, and is P0.10 higher than the top-end of the P3.37 to P5.10 price range provided by independent financial advisor (IFA) Unicapital Inc.

“(T)he Tender Offer and voluntary delisting of MPIC will allow existing shareholders to sell their common shares and realize their investment, in cash, at a premium to the current trading price of the common shares,” the filing read.

The offer is set to be launched by the bidders immediately after the special stockholders’ meeting scheduled on August 8, 2023, should the voluntary delisting from the PSE be approved by shareholders.

Under the PSE’s amended rules, the voluntary delisting should secure the approval of at least two-thirds of the entire membership of the board of directors and stockholders owning at least two-thirds of the total outstanding shares, and those voting against the proposal should not exceed 10% of the total outstanding shares.

MPIC currently owns 47.5% of Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), 99.9% of Metro Pacific Tollways Corp., 52.8% of Maynilad Water Services Inc., 20.0% of Metro Pacific Health Corp., and other assets. —VAL, GMA Integrated News