Saturday, October 4, 2008

First Pacific buys shares of Philippines' largest mining firm

Copper-gold producer Philex Mining Corp., the largest mining company of the Philippines, on Friday said it has agreed to sell 20.16 percent of its stake to the Hong Kong conglomerate First Pacific Co. Ltd..

First Pacific will buy 778.44 million shares of Philex Mining Corp. for 6.2 billion pesos in total, according to a disclosure of Philex to the Manila stock exchange.

The purchase is divided in two tranches, with the first 10.08 percent being bought on Oct. 13 and the second by Nov. 30 this year.

Philex said the deal will clearly strengthen the company's portfolio of mining assets and thus, cement its place as the largest and most profitable mining company in the Philippines.

First Pacific is the controlling shareholder of telecommunications giant Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., and the parent company of local investment firm Metro Pacific Investments Corp.

The closing of the deal will give it two seats in the Philex board, the company said. Manuel V. Pangilinan, chairman of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., will be nominated to take the first board seat, Philex said.

Source: Xinhua

No comments: