Maniolas

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine unit of Macau casino giant Melco Crown Entertainment raised P5.48 billion through an overnight top-up placement, bringing in fresh capital to fund the completion of City of Dreams Manila, its first venture outside Macau. In a filing with securities regulators, Melco Crown (Philippines) Resorts said the deal comprised 485.18 million shares, which accounted for 9.88 percent of the company. The shares were offered at P11.30 apiece, which translated into a discount of seven percent versus the previous closing market price. The deal was done as a top-up placement that saw controlling shareholder MCE Investments first sell existing shares to investors and then buy the same number of new shares at the same price from the company. This structure allows the deal to be completed quicker than if Melco Philippines was to issue new shares directly to the market. The transaction still ensures that all the proceeds end up with the company. Upon completion of the transaction, MCE’s holding in Melco Philippines will be diluted to 65.29 percent from 72.45 percent. Shares of Melco Philippines were suspended from trading Wednesday ahead of the fund-raising announcement. Trading of its shares resumed today. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The stock closed lower than Tuesday’s closing price of P12.17 per share. Melco Philippines plans to use proceeds from the transaction to fund work on the development of a $1.3-billion integrated casino resort in Pagcor Entertainment City. Its board approved the other day an increase in Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – ARC Refreshments Corp., the exclusive distributor of RC Cola in the Philippines, has approved the acquisition of two plants of Zest-O Corp. located in Novaliches and Canlubang, Laguna. In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, ARC, owned by businessman Alfredo Yao, said all the machineries and equipment as well as inventories and other assets of the two plants would be used for the production and distribution of its beverage products. Other brands that ARC carries are Fruit Soda Orange, Juicy Lemon and Arcy’s Rootbeer. Yao earlier announced plans to put up new RC Cola plants in Thailand and Myanmar as  the group expands operations in Southeast Asia ahead of the region’s economic integration. Yao’s Mazy Capital Inc. took over Maybank ATR Kim Eng Financial Corp. last year, resulting in a backdoor listing at the local bourse. From January to March this year, ARC posted a net income of P408 million, 108 percent higher than the previous year’s figures, driven by strong market demand and a successful distribution system. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Aside from ARC, Yao also controls mid-sized lender Philippine Business Bank.  He used to hold a significant stake in Zest Air.

BOTH public and private sector officials have again raised concerns about legal and policy barriers to investing in the power industry and meeting increasing demand.

AN AGRICULTURE official said yesterday that garlic production is enough, though the country still plans to import to meet demand.

THE TRANSPORTATION department has urged other airport authorities to take the cue from Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA)’s move to include the P550 terminal fee in airline tickets, starting in October.