Maharlika Corp. finalizes acquisition of Asian Terminals shares via tender offer

Maharlika Investment Corporation (MIC), the state-run firm managing the country’s sovereign wealth fund, on Tuesday announced the completion of its acquisition of shares in Asian Terminals Inc. (ATI) through a tender offer.

According to MIC, the tender offer resulted in the acquisition of 177,612,478 common shares of ATI, of which 101,189,675 shares were allocated to the state-run firm while 76,442,803 were allocated to ATI as part of its buyback initiative.

The transaction was crossed through the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) on March 13, with the settlement completed on March 17.

MIC said that following the transaction, it has formally become a shareholder of ATI, “securing an equity stake in one of the country’s most critical port and logistics infrastructure operators.”

“When we first announced this intent in December, I described the port sector as the 'circulatory system of the Philippine economy.' Today, we have successfully secured our place within that system,” MIC president and CEO Rafael D Consing Jr. said.

“This investment fulfills our mandate to capture value from assets with high barriers to entry and a direct correlation to our nation’s GDP growth. With our successful entry and election to the ATI Board, we now have the seat at the table necessary to ensure this asset continues to redound to the public benefit,” he added.

In a disclosure to the PSE, ATI said the final tender offer price was set at P36 per share, bringing the total amount of purchased shares to P6,394,049,208. –NB, GMA Integrated News