San Miguel Properties to delist shares

MANILA, Philippines - San Miguel Properties Inc. (SMPI), the property arm of diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp., has decided to delist from the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) after failing to comply with the 10-percent minimum public ownership requirement.

In a disclosure to the PSE yesterday, SMPI said its board approved the filing of a voluntary petition to delist from the local bourse.

The board also approved a tender offer to buy back the shares held by minority shareholders as the San Miguel subsidiary prepares for delisting.

SMPI is one of two San Miguel subsidiaries that failed to meet minimum public float requirements although it has a small public float of only 0.06 percent out of its market capitalization of about P85 billion. The other is San Miguel Brewery Inc.

In early January, the PSE has suspended the trading of seven firms, including SMPI and San Miguel Brewery, because of their failure to meet the required minimum public float.

The other companies whose trading of shares was suspended were Alphaland Corp., Southeast Asian Cement Holdings Inc., Philippine Airlines Holdings, Allied Banking Corp. and PNOC Exploration Corp.

SMPI also said in the disclosure that it had tapped ATR Kim Eng Capital Partners Inc. as financial adviser on its tender offering, which is targeted to run from Feb. 27 to March 26.

The strict implementation of the minimum public ownership requirement comes after the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) decided to slap a capital gains tax on listed companies with public floats that fall below the minimum 10-percent set by the Securities and Exchange Commission.