Dennis Uy to buy stake in ISM via share issue

ISM Communications Corp. said its board has authorized the executive committee to issue shares, adding that Udenna Group’s Dennis A. Uy has “committed” to participate in the fund-raising exercise.
The company told the stock exchange on Friday that the approval, which was given during a board meeting yesterday, covers the issue of 841,945,107 treasury shares and 883,730,659 unissued shares at a minimum price of P1.45 per share.
The price per share is equivalent to a 20% discount to the 60-day volume-weighted average price as of Thursday, “and on such other terms and conditions as the Executive Committee may find appropriate and proper.”
“The Executive Committee has a period of 90 days from date of this approval to exercise this authority granted by the Board. One of the investors who has committed to participate in the private placement is Mr. Dennis A. Uy, the founder of the Udenna Group of Companies,” ISM said.
It did not elaborate on the size of the intended purchase.
“ISM intends to use the proceeds of this issuance to fund the investment opportunities currently being pursued by management,” it added.
A former mining company, ISM in the early 2000s shifted to information technology, multimedia telecommunications, and other similar industries. It became a holding company in November 2016.
ISM currently owns 32% of Acentic GmbH, a German provider of Internet connectivity and inter-room entertainment solutions for the hospitality business. It also owns a 37.1% stake in the Philippine Bank of Communications.
On Friday, shares in ISM jumped 13.46% to close at P2.36. Before noon yesterday, it had requested a voluntary trading halt for the remainder of the day. — Victor V. Saulon