Biz buzz: Case closed?

The minority shareholders of Liberty Telecoms Holdings Inc., who were hoping for action from the Securities and Exchange Commission, turned out sorely disappointed Thursday.

The tender offer, already extended by a month amid findings that certain crucial events were not disclosed, finally concluded Thursday at the same controversial offer price of P2.20 per share.

Minority investors who failed to participate by noon Thursday will continue to hold shares of a company that will likely be delisted Nov. 21.

Liberty, previously controlled by San Miguel Corp., was earlier told to disclose added information, explain the circumstances of the “reassignment” of its valuable frequencies, the main target of the P70-billion joint acquisition launched by PLDT and Globe.

(For the record, Liberty still holds the frequencies, including those in the coveted 700 Megahertz band).

In any case, the company did so, and the story checked out for the SEC. Liberty, rather, the buyers PLDT and Globe, were told to also provide a breakdown of the acquisition price.

That would have given the minority shareholders a good idea on how Liberty’s assets were valued. No breakdown was available, the SEC was told. No problem, everything is still OK.

To be fair, the SEC is not in the business of valuation. That’s up to a third-party fairness opinion, which Liberty got.

The SEC, however, did discover some “findings” with regard to nondisclosure. We took this to suggest Liberty was facing some penalties. We hope that’s more than just a slap in the wrist.

In any case, the most interesting takeaway from the SEC briefing was that no one has come forward to complain in recent weeks. Everyone satisfied? Or maybe the minority shareholders thought: why bother? —Miguel R. Camus

Loan sharks, beware!

The time for reckoning has come for loan sharks who are preying on poor households and micro-entrepreneurs.

As a religion, Islam does not favor the charging of interest rates. How much more if lenders were to charge usurious interest rates. During President Duterte’s visit to the Islamic state of Brunei, two new special projects came up, said Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez. One is the campaign promise to have regional micro funding for people at the bottom of the pyramid like small market vendors and make “5-6” (loan shark scheme) illegal.

No, there’s no need to amend the law to bust these loan sharks. “They are not registered and are not paying taxes. They are underground. So the concerned agencies will check on this,” Lopez told Biz Buzz.

Another special project inspired by the Brunei trip is the revival of heritage local industries like Marikina shoes and Mindanao silk. —Doris Dumlao-Abadilla

Property shake-up

After a 20-year alliance, international property consulting firm CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) is “breaking up” with Philippine franchise holder Rick Santos, ending what people describe as a marriage on the rocks.

CBRE recently told its Philippine staff that it would not renew the franchise agreements with Santos. Effective Jan. 1, 2017, the firm will instead enter into an alliance with Leechiu Property Consultants (LPC), a five-month old consulting firm put up by property veteran David Leechiu right after leaving Jones Lang Lasalle.

Under the forthcoming alliance with LPC, Leechiu’s firm will become the new execution arm of CBRE, currently the second largest consulting firm in the country. According to the grapevine, LPC will get to keep its name and branding. —Doris Dumlao-Abadilla

After the sound and fury

The Masbate mine continues to “operate uninterrupted” even upon receipt of the audit results from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, which recommended a suspension of its operations.

This follows a similar development with OceanaGold Corp., whose local unit maintains output plans as the Didipio mine in Nueva Vizcaya remains in operation.

“We have received and analyzed the comprehensive audit report findings and determined that they are broadly consistent with the preliminary notice (received on Sept. 27) and the action plan developed to date,” says B2Gold president and chief executive Clive T. Johnson.

B2Gold owns Philippine Gold Processing and Refining Corp., owner of the mineral processing facility at the Masbate project, the country’s biggest gold producer.

The Canadian firm (40 percent) is also the joint-venture partner of Zoom Mineral Holdings Inc. (60 percent) in Filminera Resources Corp., which holds the mining tenements that include the Masbate mine.

Johnson says the points raised in the DENR audit “are principally related to administrative and regulatory compliance issues which B2Gold is confident will be resolved by continuing to work closely with the appropriate government agencies.”

“The audit report also provides a number of additional recommendations that we fully support,” he says.

Similarly, OceanaGold received the audit report on its Didipio mine, the second-largest gold producer in the country.

The Australian firm said the findings in the report “relate mostly to a need to further educate a broader group of stakeholders on specific aspects of the operations.”

OceanaGold says the “findings” on the Didipio operations publicized during last month’s DENR press conference were not included as findings in the audit report.

“I am very confident that our responses to the DENR will satisfy all of the findings and recommendations that have been raised,” OceanaGold president and chief executive Mick Wilkes says.

“I am also pleased that the Didipio operation was nominated by the (MGB) for the 2016 Presidential ‘Most Environmentally Responsible Mining Operation” for a third straight year,” Wilkes says. —Ronnel W. Domingo