East Asia Power plans sale of shares

Published : Tuesday, September 27, 2011 00:00 
Written by : KRISTA ANGELA M. MONTEALEGRE


EAST Asia Power Corp. plans to sell shares so it can meet the minimum public ownership requirement of the Philippine Stock Exchange.


Jose EB Antonio, East Asia Power chairman, told reporters the company may issue new shares or sell part of Century Properties Inc.’s stake to meet the bourse’s November 30 deadline for listed firms.


Antonio said East Asia Power aims not only to comply, but also “to create a corporation where you give stockholders a chance to benefit from your business.” About 6.4 percent of the company is publicly held.


“As long as you can keep control, up to 40 percent we are willing to be held by the public,” said Antonio on the sidelines of the company’s special stockholders meeting.


In the same meeting, shareholders approved the offering and the issuance of up to 3.32 billion common shares owned by Century Properties to investors.


Based on the closing price of East Asia Power’s shares on Monday, the sale of 3.326 billion shares will generate P6.02 billion in proceeds. Century Properties will also subscribe to the same number of shares it sold.


Antonio said it is “unlikely” that the company will conduct the placement and subscription transaction this year because of the volatility in global markets.


“We’ll just have to wait for the markets to stabilize,” he said.


Shareholders also approved the increase in the authorized capital stock of East Asia Power from 6 billion to 10 billion common shares.


Century Properties will subscribe to the capital increase in exchange for all of its shares in its units, namely Century Properties Management Inc., Century Communities Corp., Century Limitless Corp. and Century City Development Corp.


East Asia Power will also undergo an equity restructuring to wipe out the company’s accumulated deficit at end-July.


Shareholders also approved the change in East Asia Power’s purpose from power generation to property development and in its corporate name to Century Properties Group Inc., paving the way for the real estate firm’s backdoor listing.


East Asia Power shares lost P0.22 to close at P1.81 each on Monday.