By Denise A. Valdez, Reporter
THE Cebu-based holding firm of businessman Lowell L. Yu has increased its stake in Pacifica, Inc. to become the majority owner of the listed shell company.
In a disclosure to the stock exchange Wednesday, Pacifica said Mr. Yu’s Unido Capital Holdings, Inc. subscribed to an additional 125,000,000 common shares in the listed firm.
The deal effectively raises Unido Capital’s stake in Pacifica to 60.94% from 36.53% previously.
This follows the approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission on Nov. 26 of the company’s application to increase its authorized capital stock to P700 million from P200 million.
“Out of the P500 million increase, Unido Capital Holdings, Inc. subscribed to 125,000,000 common shares of Pacifica Holdings, Inc. (with new par value of P1.00 per share),” it said.
“As a result of the additional subscription of 125,000,000 shares, Unido Capital Holdings, Inc. now directly owns a total of 60.94% of the current aggregate outstanding capital stock of Pacifica Holdings, Inc.,” it added.
In separate disclosures on Wednesday, Pacifica announced it is changing its corporate name to Pacifica Holdings, Inc. and is increasing the par value of its shares to P1 each from P0.005 previously.
It said the changes are meant to “facilitate the conversion of the company into a holding company and to enable (it) to carry out further equity fund raising and strengthen its capital base.”
The disclosures once again sparked speculation that Pacifica would be used as a backdoor listing vehicle for Mr. Yu’s businesses, which include restaurant chain Kuya J.
Asked about the potential backdoor listing, Diversified Securities, Inc. Equity Trader Aniceto K. Pangan in a text message: “Not sure yet as their disclosure is not complete. Unido’s acquisition is only P125 million from the total of P700 million. There is a possible backdoor listing but disclosure is still raw.”
Mr. Yu started the takeover of Pacifica in 2016 when Unido Capital acquired the shares of 9th Kingdom Investments Corp. and Mikro-Tech Capital, Inc. in the company. He currently sits as the chairman of Pacifica.
Aside from his roles in Unido Capital and Pacifica, Mr. Yu also sits as director in listed property developer 8990 Holdings, Inc.
He is also president of iHoldings, Inc. and chairman at 77 Living Spaces, Inc.; Grand Majestic Convention City Corp.; 101 Restaurant City, Inc.; MyMarket, Inc.; Govago, Inc. and iKitchen, Inc., which operates restaurant chain Kuya J.
Shares in Pacifica at the stock exchange recorded a 22.22% uptick to P0.044 each at the close of Wednesday’s trading.
