BIZ BUZZ: Say hi to Frank Lloyd Chua
Asiabest Group International (ABG) saw its stock price surge to dizzying heights this year, before the Philippine Stock Exchange ordered a trading suspension to make way for a backdoor-listing process.
Even with all the attention, ABG has remained shrouded in mystery.
No surprise there as ABG, which was initially in mining, has been a shell company since 2017 and has been incurring financial losses due to its lack of continuing operations.
However, a new chapter could be in place for ABG under its new owners PremiumLands Corp and Industry Holdings and Development Corp. These companies are led by Francis Lloyd Chua, a low-profile person in Philippine business circles but the public would likely get to know better in the coming days.
Chua is involved in the real estate and construction industries. Within its portfolio, PremiumLands has developments such as Market Mall in Ormoc, Leyte and office buildings called The Mondrian and PMI Tower in Makati. The company is also set to launch low-cost residential buildings under the brand “Kabalayan.”
Meanwhile, Industry Holdings and Development Corp. is involved in manufacturing, logistics, and construction.
Its subsidiary Concrete Stone Corp. recently partnered with Singapore-based SMEC, which designed the iconic Marina Bay Sands, to address challenges related to construction, such as high logistic costs and slow project completion times.
Chua is also involved in building shipyards. Megaship Builders Inc., one of his companies, received a Php 4 billion loan from the Development Bank of the Philippines to expand its shipyard in Albuera, Leyte – which could be among the biggest in the Philippines.
With Chua’s businesses bustling with various projects in the pipeline, one may wonder whether the time has finally come for ABG to stop being dormant.
Only time will tell how ABG would come back to life under Chua’s ownership.
