The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
By Riza Lozada
To comply with market regulators’ requirements on a P70-billion megadeal, listed Liberty Telecoms Inc. (LIB) will voluntarily delist from the stock market, as its shares will be the subject of a tender offer.
The offer is an offshoot of the sale of San Miguel Corp. (SMC) unit Vega Telecoms to Philippine Long Distance Telecommunications Inc. (PLDT) and Globe Telecom.
In compliance with the Securities Regulation Code Section 19 rule on tender offer and Rule 19 of its Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR), the acquisition deal will have to comply with tender offer procedures for Vega unit LIB.
The tender offer is expected to be completed within the year.
In a letter to the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC), Globe said that after careful deliberation, a decision was reached and secured internal approvals for the company to exercise its rights as the holder of half of the issued and outstanding capital stock of VTI, which will hold the tender offer for shares held by minority shareholders of LIB, and the voluntary delisting of LIB, with the view of completing the entire process within the year.
PLDT also old the bourse that it wrote SEC telling the agency that in connection with the joint acquisition by PLDT and Globe of 100 percent of the total issued and outstanding capital stock of VTI, the company after due evaluation and study of the options and plans of PLDT with respect to the VTI subsidiaries and LIB was amenable to VTI conducting a voluntary tender offer for all of the outstanding shares held by the remaining minority shareholders of LIB.
PLDT will exercising its rights to the extent of its 50 percent ownership of VTI, it said. PLDT also indicated in its letter to SEC that voluntary tender offer will be conducted pursuant to and within the context of a voluntary delisting of LIB’s shares of stock from the Exchange, which shall be subject to corporate and regulatory approvals of LIB.
PLDT advised the SEC that the company intends to cause LIB through VTI (to extent of its 50% ownership) to secure the necessary corporate and regulatory approvals for the proposed delisting.
The process for the voluntary tender offer and delisting is contemplated to commence within the third quarter and to be completed within the year, according to PLDT.