IPM Group acquires stake in MIC

SHAREHOLDERS of publicly listed Minerales Industrias Corp. have approved the entry of the IPM Group into the dormant firm, signaling its conversion into a holding company focused on the waste management business.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, MIC said it had secured shareholders’ approval to allow the subscription of the IPM Group, its subsidiaries and affiliates of P500 million worth of the company’s shares.

The shares will come from an increase in MIC’s authorized capital.

Shareholders also approved the new management’s plan to use P470 million out of the P500 million in fresh capital, to acquire 75 percent of Best Environmental Systems and Technologies for a total consideration of P475 million.

The acquisition of BEST—the country’s largest integrated waste solutions provider— will enable MIC to shift its focus from mining metals to municipal solid waste being collected, processed and recycled into renewable sources of energy such as refuse-derived fuel.

Owned by Isabelita Paredes Mercado, the IPM Grouphasbeen amajor player in the construction business for over 16 years, starting as a building contractor prior to expanding into environment management, equipment trading, information technology and real estate development.

IPM, which operates the Payatas landfill in Quezon City, effectively gained automatic listing on the stock exchange via the acquisition of MIC, allowing it to tap into a wide pool of potential investors to provide itself with capital for future growth or working capital.

The group formed BEST in 1999 primarily as a garbage collection contractor for Metro Manila and hauling these wastes to landfill areas. In 2005, the company began its shift towards providing total waste management services by taking over the rehabilitation and closure project of the Payatas controlled dump in Quezon City.

Three years later, BEST opened an engineered sanitary landfill facility in Morong, Rizal to serve the waste disposal requirements of the province and select private corporations.

The Morong facility has since expanded to include a materials recovery and composting facility (MRCF), which pushed BEST closer to its goal of becoming an integrated waste management solution provider to Metro Manila’s perennial garbage problem from collection to disposal to recycling.

BEST’s expertise was put to use in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Ondoy in 2009 when it was tapped by the National Government to undertake a massive cleanup of Metro Manila.