LBC group gains control of dormant holding firm

Courier and money remittance company LBC Development Corp. formally gained control of dormant listed company Federal Resources Investment Group Inc., a stock exchange filing on Thursday showed.

Federal Resources said it had issued 59.10 million shares to the Araneta family’s LBC Development. This is equivalent to about 59 percent of Federal Resources’ total issued and outstanding capital stock.

In its filing, Federal Resources said the issuance was in line with the company’s need “to raise additional capital for general corporate purposes.” It did not elaborate.

The development is seen to pave the way for the long-rumored backdoor listing of courier services operator LBC Express Inc. into the Philippine Stock Exchange.

LBC Express currently holds the bulk of all the daily cargo space allocation of carriers Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific.

It was the first to introduce 24-hour air service delivery in the country.

In terms of distribution capability, LBC Express has more than a thousand branches in the Philippines and about 60 branches in the United States, Canada and a host of other smaller countries.

The group had wanted to embark on an initial public offering but was sidelined by the woes of an affiliate bank— LBC Development Bank—which was shut down by banking regulators.

In line with the deal, three of Federal Resources’ seven directors stepped down from the company and were replaced by representatives from the new investor group. The new directors and officer are Santiago Araneta, Miguel Angel Camahort and Solita Delantar.

Araneta was also appointed the new chair and chief executive officer of Federal Resources effective May 18 while Camahort was named the new president. Oscar Torres was named the company’s new chief financial officer and treasurer.

Federal Resources, formerly known as Federal Chemicals Inc., was established in 1993 to manufacture adhesives and chemicals used in the hardware and construction businesses.