Ferronoux brings in new partner
Just a week after confirming talks with a potential partner, listed Ferronoux Holdings Inc. closed an P80-million share purchase deal with Themis Group Corp. seen to help unlock opportunities for growth and expansion.
In a stock exchange filing on Friday, the shell company led by businessman Michael Cosiquien said Themis made a private placement for 80 million new common shares of Ferronoux at a peso apiece.
This represents a 23.4-percent stake in Ferronoux, which has not been operating since 2015.
Back then, the company operated as AG Finance Inc. (AGF) and dropped its lending activities. Its board of directors had also approved the change in its primary purpose to a holding company.
On Friday, Ferronoux did not disclose additional details about Themis.
As a result of the transaction, directors Jesus Chua Jr. and Yerik Cosiquien resigned from Ferronoux’s board of directors citing “personal reasons,” the company said in a separate disclosure.
MM Lazaro and Associates partners Philipe Aquino and Abel Almario were elected directors effective on Thursday, Dec. 12.
According to Ferronoux, Aquino and Almario are also directors of “several corporations.”
This comes after the company confirmed an InsiderPH report that it had been “actively engaging in discussions with several potential investors” that had expressed “strong interests in supporting the growth and expansion of our business.”
“We remain open to exploring all strategic options, including the potential sale of the company, provided such a proposition aligns with the best interests of our shareholders and offers a compelling value proposition,” Ferronoux said in a statement.
New purpose
Ferronoux was established in 2001 as AGF to operate as a financing firm and provide short-term, unsecured credit facilities to rank-and-file employees of local medium-sized corporations.
Two years later in 2003, it expanded its operations to include the North America and Middle East markets.
Apart from the change in its primary purpose in 2015, AGF’s board also approved the company’s secondary purpose of engaging in mining and smelting operations to diversify the business.
In 2017, Michael Cosiquien’s construction firm ISOC Holdings Inc. acquired the 67-percent stake held by RYM Business Management Corp. in AGF.
The Securities and Exchange Commission approved AGF’s name change to Ferronoux in 2018.
