Lopez Group set to consolidate business

It is always a good sign when you see an offer for your shares with a significant premium over the market price

The troubled Lopez Group which is still reeling from the franchise loss of its crown jewel ABS-CBN Corp. had taken steps to consolidate its business that would result in the possible delisting of Lopez Holdings Corp. from the stock exchange.

“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,” LPZ president, chief operating officer and chief finance officer Salvador G. Tirona said.

“If FPH’s ( First Philippine Holdings Corporation) 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,” he added.

Tender offer

On 1 December 2020, the Board of Directors of Lopez Holdings Corporation (LPZ) acknowledged the conduct by First Philippine Holdings Corporation (FPH) of a tender offer to acquire a minimum of 20 percent and a maximum of 45.56 percent of the total issued and outstanding common shares of LPZ from all its shareholders, excluding the shares owned by its ultimate parent entity, Lopez Inc. which has agreed not to tender its common shares, at a price of P3.85 per common share.

In this connection, the Board of Directors of LPZ has authorized the filing of a petition for voluntary delisting of the Corporation from the Main Board of the Philippine Stock Exchange.

FPH’s tender offer price of P3.85 represents a 25 percent premium over LPZ’s closing share price of P3.08 on 27 November 2020 and a 41 percent, 43 percent and 36 percent premium over LPZ’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 percent premium over LPZ’s 6-month closing high as of 27 November 2020 of P3.15.