By Arra B. Francia, Reporter
MELCO Resorts and Entertainment (Philippines) Corp. (MRP) has withdrawn its application to voluntarily delist from the local bourse, announcing instead its largest shareholder’s plan to increase its stake in the company.
In a disclosure to the stock exchange on Friday, MRP said it has formally withdrawn its petition and amended petition for voluntary delisting from the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), which was filed last September.
The operator of the City of Dreams Manila earlier announced plans to exit the PSE by November, citing its “inability to raise funds despite considerable efforts and expenses being incurred to maintain its listed status.”
The exit was dependent on the conduct of a tender offer by its largest shareholder, MCO (Philippines) Investments Limited, that sought to buy out all minority shareholders.
A number of market participants however raised their eyebrows on the planned tender offer, as they deemed the tender offer price of P7.25 per share unfair. Traders pointed out that the tender offer price was way below the P14 per share MRP shares had when the company conducted its follow-on offering back in 2013, among others.
Amid the withdrawal, MCO Investments said it will proceed with its planned tender offer consisting of up to 1.57 billion common shares, representing 27.23% of the company’s outstanding capital stock.
“(S)uch tender offer shall be conducted for the purpose of increasing the bidder’s shareholding interest in the issuer, instead of for the purpose of voluntary delisting of MRP,” the company said.
Sought for comment, Regina Capital Development Corp. Managing Director Luis A. Limlingan said conducting the tender offer could signal a shift in strategy for MRP to go for involuntary delisting.
“Tender offer kasi maybe involuntary delisting pa siguro. There might be fundamental change in strategy, especially with a single used fixed asset,” Mr. Limlingan said in a mobile message, adding that the tender offer could bring down the company’s free float to less than 10%.
Companies may be involuntarily delisted from the PSE should it fail to meet the minimum public float of 10%.
MCO Investments will be filing a second amended tender offer report next week to update the tender offer schedule.
Meanwhile, the PSE welcomed the company’s decision to withdraw its delisting plan, saying it will address the issues raised by investors.
“It is a development that surely would also calm down sentiments coming from minority shareholders who did have certain issues when they first came up with the valuation,” PSE Chief Operating Officer Roel A. Refran told reporters on the sidelines of the Philippine Investments Forum in Makati on Friday.
“It also reinforces the prospects. I’m pretty sure the company does also see the value of carrying on remaining to be a listed company. And I think that’s fully appreciated also by the investors who did raise a couple of issues because they do see the value in continuing the listing of the company,” Mr. Refran added.
MRP’s net income surged by 437% to P1.89 billion in the first half of 2018. Operating revenues slipped by one percent to P16.54 billion, due to the adoption of a new revenue standard “which resulted in higher commissions paid to gaming promoters being deducted from casino revenues.”
Shares in MRP jumped 1.57% or 11 centavos to close at P7.11 each on Friday.

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