Philab completes purchase deal with Alterra Capital

The Philab group has completed a deal to acquire a 67-percent stake in Alterra Capital Partners Inc., targeted to be the backdoor-listing vehicle for one of the country’s key providers of laboratory equipment as well as medical and scientific research.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange Wednesday, Alterra said the purchase of 208.62 million shares of Alterra by Genomics Inc. and Philab president and stockholder Hector Thomas Navasero was executed via special block sale on Oct. 11.

The shares in Alterra were bought from shareholders Conrado Rafael Alcantara, Alfonso Anggala and Star Alliance Securities Corp.

Philab had planned to list on the Singapore Stock Exchange but the opportunity to acquire a clean shell company came about.  With Genomics,  one of his companies, Navasero bought 67 percent of Alterra for P362.32 million.

The corporate name will be changed to Philab Holdings Corp., signifying the infusion of the biotechnology business into the listed firm.