Biz Buzz: Suspended
PCCI Securities Brokers Corp. has gone on a sixmonth voluntary suspension starting July 18 as parent Philippine Commercial Capital Corp. (PCCI) grapples to clean up the investment house.
From what we hear, PCCI is now in search of a new white knight as the takeover deal mulled by businessman Januario Jesus Gregorio “JJ”
Atencio did not pan out due to some complications. Atencio proceeded with the transaction to acquire affiliate investment house Ampersand Capital, but dropped the brokerage house out of the package.
Instead, Atencio recently announced an investment in Investagram, a tech platform for stock analysis and trading. Apparently, Investagram is keen on acquiring a brokerage house as well but is still raising funds to meet the P100-million minimum capitalization to enter the business.
On Ampersand, which he acquired for P305 million, Atencio is still trying to organize the management team. The plan is for this investment house to be able to help fintech companies and small and medium enterprises.
Going back to PCCI Securities, the suspension is voluntary, ergo, not punitive. We heard that the brokerage house has hurdled capital adequacy and other requirements, which is why the Philippine Stock Exchange approved a voluntary suspension instead of ordering this unit padlocked. Existing accounts had been transferred to other brokers for servicing.
But this means the clock is ticking for PCCI Securities to find a new white knight. Under the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) rules, trading participants hold perpetual license but there must be con- tinuation of use to be able to keep such license. —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA
Exempted
Trading of shares of new consumer powerhouse San Miguel Food and Beverage Inc. (FB) will resume today as the company secured exemption from the 10-percent minimum public ownership required by the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) for continued listing on its bourse.
To recall, the trading on FB had been suspended on July 6 as the issuance of new shares to parent San Miguel Corp. pursuant to a share swap deal that infused P336.35 billion worth of shares in San Miguel’s beer and liquor units into FB reduced its public ownership to 4.12 percent from 14.6 percent.
The PSE had to suspend trading on FB shares until the company is able to obtain a favorable ruling/opinion from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) on the appropriate taxes to be imposed on the trades of FB stocks through the PSE during the period.
On Friday, FB advised the PSE that it had received a BIR ruling which stated that the share-swap transaction and the follow-on offer of FB shares and all trades of its shares during the minimum public ownership (MPO) exemption period were not subject to BIR Revenue Regulation 16-2012 and that the stock transaction tax of 6/10 of 1 percent would be imposed on all trades during this period.
FB said it was “working on restoring its public float to comply with the MPO requirement through a follow-on offering of FB common shares within the next six months.” — DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA
Korean third telco?
Last week was an exciting time for those closely watching the third telco saga.
It ended with some good news for those hoping for more competition.
An oversight committee (minus the Department of Finance, which wanted an auction) voted to adopt the highest committed level of service rules, thus keeping Eliseo Rio
Jr., acting secretary of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), from pushing through with a serious threat to resign.
In this situation, common sense prevailed. So convincing was the move against an auction that an anti-DICT white paper that had been circulating in recent days even claimed that the DOF “never” pushed for an auction.
Are there issues that still need to be addressed? Definitely. The DICT was given conditions after all.
While the situation remains delicate, last week nevertheless brought more clarity. Some of the aspirants are apparently moving forward with their own plans and are engaging with partners.
Others are pushing ahead no matter what becomes of the third telco initiative. We heard one such company is pursuing its goal of becoming a major internet player. Together with its partner, word is this group will raise the stakes in the local telco sector, well, Gangnam style. —MIGUEL R. CAMUS
Promises, promises
Commitments are difficult for both sides of the fence. It’s hard for the one making the promise, and it’s not easy for the other person to just believe it all. Companies and governments should be no exception to this.
And so we now find ourselves waiting to see if the competition watchdog will believe what Grab, now a virtual monopoly, is promising amid competition-related concerns.
The Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) stopped its review of Grab’s Uber takeover after the company submitted so-called voluntary commitments, which were meant to address PCC’s issues.
A decision on these commitments is expected within this month, which will tell us if the review will continue its track, or if Grab’s rather rocky road has finally reached an end.
What were the promises? We can’t say for sure, but we’ve heard that these commitments address four concerns: competition, exclusivity, customer experience and pricing.
Now let’s talk about pricing, an issue so close to everyone’s hearts and pockets. From what we’ve heard, it looks like there’s still a lot to talk about (or complain about, depending on your budget).
If nothing else has changed, we hear that Grab did not explicitly promise a lower pricing scheme for its users.
Instead, the company promised their fees would be pursuant to the rules of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), which regulates the market.
This sounds both vague and safe, and yet not necessarily wrong. But what does this really mean? And will the government buy this? We’ll know soon enough. E-mail us at bizbuzz@inquirer.com.ph. Get business alerts and a preview of Biz Buzz the evening before it comes out. Text ONINQ BUSINESS to 4467 (P2.50/alert)