Philex expenditure for acquisition target
TOP PRODUCER gold and copper Philex Mining Corp. are interested in acquiring other mining companies after selling 20 percent shares in November to the Hong Kong-based conglomerate First Pacific Co. Ltd. to P6.2 billion.
Philex chair Walter Brown said that First Pacific, Indonesia was represented by the king of telecommunications Manuel V. Pangilinan, has committed to get the 20 percent-rise blocks, although the question by Philex country shareholders and pension funds Social Security System (SSS).
BC has 24 percent of the Philex and that pension funds should have been given the opportunity to exercise the preemptive right or right to have first crack at each Philex buy the shares for sale.
“It has cost us much time, effort. It jeopardized the transaction because for a while, the price of commodities kept unwrapping and if Mr. Pangilinan was never a man he said, he can easily find legal reasons to question the transaction to back out [ The deal], “Brown said.
Philex director Roberto Ongpin, who led the negotiations for First Pacific investment in Philex, said that despite questions raised by BC, First Pacific will buy 20 percent by 28 November at the Philex.
“We almost lost this deal, but clearly through. By 28 November, we will have in our coffers P6.2 billion in cash in addition to the P1.2 billion that we have today,” said Ongpin.
Confident that sales will step, the mining giant said it is studying four potential targets, two of which are listed in overseas bourses.
It is taking between $ 300 million and $ 500 million for any potential acquisitions.
Brown acknowledges that Philex has been to see the property from mining Atlas Consolidated Mining & Development Corp., the Kings copper gold project of Benguet Corp. in Compostela Valley in Davao region, and Climax Mining, which has a gold and copper project in northern Luzon, but the asset is not Philex’s more on the radar screen.
Philex is now focused on completing the take over of Boyongan copper gold project in Upington, which will ensure that the Philex mining operations will resume after the shutdown of the Padcal mine in Benguet by 2014.
Brown, meantime, have to say that the BC exercise preemptive right, Philex management will make sure that First Pacific will still get a 20 percent stake.
If this happens, BC, is now the single largest shareholder of Philex, will impact on equal footing with the First Pacific board in Philex board with two seats each.