Cosmos to delist from local stock exchange

MANILA, Philippines—Softdrinks manufacturer Cosmos Bottling Corp. is finally to delist from the Philippine Stock Exchange, five years after trading in its shares was suspended.

In a disclosure to the PSE on Thursday, CBC said a tender offer to minority stockholders would be made at P1.758 per share by its controlling stockholder, Philippine Bottlers Inc., which in turn is 100-percent owned by Coca Cola Bottlers Philippines Inc., the country’s leading carbonated beverage maker.

The tender offer to minority shareholders will run from April 17 to May 16.  The company’s board has approved the voluntary delisting process.

Only 1.79 percent of CBC’s 903.56 million outstanding shares are currently held by the public. Shares of CBC were last traded on the PSE in 2006.  Trading in CBC shares was suspended in 2008 due to the company’s non-compliance with reportorial obligations.

CBC was originally established as the Manila Aerated Water Factory in 1945. Its branded products available in the domestic market nationwide consist of Pop Cola, Sarsi, Cheers Lemon and Orange, Jaz Cola and Sparkle.

This company was once controlled by the Concepcion family and was eventually sold to San Miguel Corp. in the early 2000s. When SMC eventually sold the softdrink business back to The Coca-Cola Co. of Atlanta in 2007, CBC was part of the package.  Last December, the Mexico-based global bottling giant Coca-Cola FEMSA signed a deal to acquire 51 percent of CCBPI for $688.5 million in cash.

Trades effected outside the trading system of the PSE no longer enjoy the preferential  tax rate of ½ of 1 percent.  Instead, these will be subject to a capital gains tax of between 5 and 10 percent.

Apart from capital gain taxes on sale of shares – equivalent to 5 percent for transactions up to P100,000 and 10 percent for those in excess of P100,000 – over-the-counter trades on unlisted companies will be slapped with a documentary stamp tax of P0.75 on each P200 of the par value of the stock.