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Keppel pushes P268.8-M delisting
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Keppel pushes P268.8-M delisting

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The local bourse may see a delisting before an initial public offering (IPO) this year after Keppel Philippines Holdings Inc. (KPH) announced plans to exit the stock exchange amid the market’s “undervaluation” of its shares.

In a stock exchange filing on Friday, KPH said Kepwealth Inc., its majority shareholder, had wanted to buy out the listed firm’s minority shareholders via a tender offer at P27.40 per share.

This is a 37-percent premium over KPH’s last trading price, valuing the exit at P268.8 million, according to AP Securities Inc. research head Alfred Benjamin Garcia.

KPH filed for a voluntary trading suspension on Friday to allow the market to absorb the news.

Makati City-based real estate firm Kepwealth currently owns 53.34 percent of KPH, while Singapore-based asset manager Keppel Ltd. has 29.52 percent.

Under the Philippine Stock Exchange Inc.’s (PSE) voluntary delisting rules, Kepwealth needs to obtain at least 95 percent of KPH’s shares before the latter can exit the bourse.

According to KPH, Kepwealth also plans to buy at the tender offer price the shares of Keppel Ltd.

KPH, which listed on the PSE in 1987, was incorporated as a subsidiary of Singapore-based Keppel Corp. Ltd. under the name Keppel Philippines Shipyard Inc. to handle ship repair and conduct shipbuilding activities.

It was later converted into an investment holding company that also has real estate interests.

Garcia noted that KPH was “very thinly traded, so maybe the parent company feels that it isn’t being valued correctly by the market.”

To rise when private

Ron Acoba, chief investment strategist at Trading Edge Consultancy, also pointed out that KPH could raise its value once it goes private, thus allowing it to raise more capital.

“Since the market now has been volatile and, at its lows, [KPH] won’t be able to raise cash at a value that they want,” Acoba explained.

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“They may choose to re-list when the market is good again. This will allow them to get a better value for their shares,” he added.

While its board of directors has already approved the voluntary delisting, KPH will also have to get the approval of its stockholders during a special meeting on April 24.

KPH’s intention to exit the bourse also comes as the PSE has yet to see its first IPO this year.

So far, only Cebu-based Top Line Development Corp. has disclosed a concrete timeline —around the second quarter of 2025—as to when it plans to debut on the stock exchange.

Brokers have said that Maynilad Water Services Inc. may move its IPO to 2026, or a year before its deadline with the national government.

The PSE expects P120 billion in capital raised from equities this year.


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