Melco Resorts and Entertainment (Philippines) Corp. moved closer to the original plan of delisting its shares from the Philippine Stock Exchange as its public ownership is set to drop to less than the 10-percent required by the local bourse.
Melco Resorts said in a disclosure to the stock exchange it was informed by majority shareholder MCO (Philippines) Investments Ltd. that 1.33 billion common shares out of the 1.56 billion shares held by the public had been tendered and accepted by MCO Investments at the end of the offering period on Nov 29.
After the tendered shares are crossed at the PSE on Dec. 10, MCO Investments will own 96.1 percent of the outstanding capital stock of Melco Resorts.
This means its public float will drop to 3.9 percent, which could trigger a possible trading suspension and delisting if Melco Resorts will not present a defined program to comply with the 10-percent minimum public ownership requirement within the next six months.
Melco Resorts said MCO Investments would submit a final tender offer report with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PSE on or before Dec 14.
MCO Investments will spend P9.64 billion to acquire the tendered shares based on the offer price of P7.25 apiece.
MCO Investments originally planned to delist Melco Resort from the PSE after filing a petition for voluntary delisting in September.
However, after receiving strong opposition from minority shareholders, MCO Investments withdrew the petition for voluntary delisting.
It also changed the purpose of the tender offer to increasing its stake in the gaming firm and not for the purpose of delisting.
MCO Investments earlier said it decided to delist Melco Resorts because, citing that the listing in recent years had not contributed to the company’s ability to raise funds despite considerable efforts and expenses being incurred to maintain the status.
Melco Resorts was listed in the PSE through a backdoor listing after acquiring Manchester International Holdings Unlimited Corp. in 2012.
It operates City of Dreams Manila, an integrated casino resort on a 6.32-hectare property at the government-sponsored Entertainment City in Parañaque City.
