SAN Miguel Corp. unit San Miguel Global Power Holdings Corp. (SMGP) has sold more shares in Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) to Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) with the latest transaction valued at P2.189 billion.
Last week, SMGP initially sold 21.4 million shares out of its 46,596,596 common shares in Meralco to MPIC for P12.40 billion.San Miguel said in a statement that the sale of its minority stake in Meralco would unlock value from a long-held investment and free up capital for renewable energy projects, in line with its long-term strategy of directing resources to businesses where it has a more direct operating role.On Wednesday, San Miguel Global Power told the stock exchange that the company and MPIC Chairman, President and CEO Manuel Pangilinan had agreed on the sale of another 3.767 million Meralco common shares at P580.99 per share.San Miguel said that its subsidiary had received no dividends on the shares because ownership had yet to be transferred, and estimates that dividends that would have accrued on the shares over 17 years totaled about P13 billion.“Factoring in the cost of money over that period, San Miguel Global Power Holdings estimates the value of those forgone dividends at about P21 billion today,” San Miguel said.Shares of San Miguel and Meralco both rose on Wednesday. San Miguel added P1.15, or 1.96 percent, to close at P59.90 each while Meralco went up by P1.80, or 0.44 percent, to P414.00 apiece.
