Chelsea Logistics Holdings Inc. said it will wait for the approval of its planned acquisition of Trans-Asia Shipping Lines Inc. from the Philippine Competition Commission before proceeding with the offering of P5 billion in preferred shares.
Chelsea Logistics vice president for finance Ignacia Braga IV said in a recent interview the company re-filed its plan to purchase Trans-Asia, a deal earlier voided by the country’s anti-trust body.
Braga said Chelsea Logistics wants to obtain PCC approval of the deal first before proceeding with the preferred shares offering, which is also pending with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Philippine Stock Exchange.
The PCC in July canceled Chelsea CLC’s acquisition of Trans-Asia for failure to notify the antitrust body of the 2016 deal, even though the size of the transaction fell under the compulsory notification threshold of P1 billion at that time.
The PCC also imposed a P22.8-million fine on Chelsea Logistics and parent Udenna Corp. led by businessman Dennis Uy.
Braga said CLC recently filed a new notification with the PCC on the planned acquisition of Trans-Asia. He said the new notification would be subject to review again by the PCC.
Chelsea Logistics said it was not required to notify the deal with PCC since Trans-Asia’s net asset value at the time of the sale was “way below” the P1-billion threshold.
Chelsea Logistics in August filed with the SEC an application to raise as much as P5 billion from the sale of preferred shares to fund expansion and acquisition plans.
The company plans to sell up to 3 million in preferred shares plus another 2 million to cover oversubscription at a price of up to P1,000 apiece. The preferred shares are non-voting, nonconvertible and non- participating.
The company tapped China Bank Capital as the sold issue manager and book runner of the fundraising activity.
Chelsea Logistics through its wholly-owned subsidiaries has 16 tankers, 14 tugboats, 22 RoPax vessels, 11 cargo ships, and one floating dock, while the 2GO Group operates eight RoPax vessels, five cargo ships, and 11 fast craft.