Infrastructure conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) said Wednesday Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) will get a board seat after the government pension fund acquired a 12-percent stake in the company.
MPIC chairman and president Manuel Pangilinan said in an interview at the sidelines of the Mining Philippines 2023 International Exhibition and Conference GSIS would be entitled to a board seat which would happen after the MPIC’s delisting from the Philippine Stock Exchange.
Pangilinan said while GSIS has yet to name it representative to MPIC’s 15-man board, he expected it to be GSIS president and general manager Jose Arnulfo Veloso who is a veteran investment banker.
“I spoke to him [Veloso], and he is welcome to the board,” Pangilinan said.
GSIS earlier reported that it acquired 2.49 billion MPIC shares from the market from Aug. 23 to Sept. 4, 2023. This increased GSIS’ownership in MPIC to 3.43 billion shares equivalent to 11.98 percent of the total outstanding common shares of MPIC.
Meanwhile, MPIC said in disclosure to the stock exchange it would be delisted from the Philippine Stock Exchange in October.
About 5.46 billion MPIC common shares, equivalent to 19.04 percent of the company’s total issued and outstanding listed shares owned by the minority investors, were tendered at the end of the tender offer period Tuesday.
MPIC said together with the excluded shares and the non-public shares, this would reach 97.22 percent of MPIC’s total issued and outstanding listed shares. MPIC’s public float is expected to drop to 2.78 percent, below the 10 percent required for listed companies.
This will pave the way for MPIC’s voluntary delisting, in accordance with the procedures of the local bourse.
MPIC earlier extended the tender offer to allow more investors to participate in the offer.
A consortium, composed of Metro Pacific Holdings Inc., MIG Holdings Inc., GT Capital Holdings Inc. and Mit-Pacific Infrastructure Holdings Corp., offered to acquire all outstanding MPIC common shares other than those they already own at P5.20 apiece.
Pangilinan said the shares tendered by the public would be proportionally divided among the members of the consortium.