HK-based investor group buys 63% stake in MJIC

A HONG KONG-BASED investor group has acquired a controlling stake in MJC Investments Corp. (MJIC) by pumping in fresh funds to support a tourism-oriented property project at the San Lazaro Business and Tourism Park in Santa Cruz, Manila.

MJIC told the Philippine Stock Exchange on Friday that it had issued 673.79 million shares valued at P1 each to a group of strategic investor from Hong Kong represented by Teik Seng Cheah through Philippine affiliates. This was pursuant to the board’s acceptance last January of the group’s offer to infuse additional equity to the company in support of its capital build-up program intended for the completion of its hotel and entertainment project.

The transaction gives the new strategic investor 62.96-percent control of MJIC while the Manila Jockey Club group led by chair Alfonso Reyno Jr. has kept a 22.31-percent stake while other private investors have 1.26 percent. Public ownership, on the other hand, has gone down to 13.46 percent from 17.09 percent.

It was earlier reported that Teik Seng Cheah was managing director of ECM Libra Financial Group Berhad, a listed Malaysian boutique financial services group. The investor group represented by Teik Seng Cheah previously bought an initial 33-percent stake in MJIC for P450 million or 450 million shares at P1 each.

Two years after the ground-breaking, the company recently topped off the 20-storey structure hotel-entertainment complex at the San Lazaro Tourism and Business Park in Sta. Cruz.

The five-star hotel, tourism and entertainment hub is located on a 7,510-square meter property, which is already home to a high-end residential condominium project jointly developed by Ayala Land and MJC as well as the SM San Lazaro. It will have 160 hotel suites, a column-less ballroom with a capacity of more than 1,000 people, 5,000 square meters of themed event space and more than a thousand parking slots.

MJC has chosen DATEM as the general contractor for the civil works of the hotel and entertainment project with a contract value of P926 million, the disclosure added.

On the pricing of the transaction, the company explained in the disclosure: “As per Punongbayan and Araullo, the fair value per share of the corporation using market-based approach ranges from P0.56 to P1.35 per share, thus, the share price of P1 per share under this transaction is fair and reasonable.”

The subscription was taken from the increase in MJIC’s authorized capital stock to P5 billion.

The MJC group now conducts its racing operations in a facility in Carmona, Cavite. It also operates off-track betting (OTB) stations and is expanding its OTB network in Metro Manila as well as in provincial areas.