PHA cancels P15-B funding deal with Doha-based firm

Investment holding firm Premiere Horizon Alliance Corp. (PHA) has terminated a P15-billion funding deal with Doha-based Sama Global Investment, which it even threatened to sue for alleged failure to comply with their agreement.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Friday, PHA said its board formally canceled the Jan. 17, 2019 memorandum of agreement (MOA) with Sama.

“After exhausting all efforts to make the agreement work and give Sama enough time to deliver, Sama still failed to comply with the provisions of the MOA,” the disclosure stated.

Furthermore, the board instructed PHA’s management “to evaluate any possible legal action which the company can take against Sama.”

Headquartered in Qatar, Sama is an investment management firm that provides investment strategies to serve a broad spectrum of client needs.

PHA was supposed to get P15 billion in long-term funding facility from Sama that could be converted into a controlling stake in the local firm. Proceeds would have funded PHA’s real estate, tourism, hospitality, infrastructure construction, power generation and financial services undertakings.The facility was supposed to have a term of nine years with a fixed interest of 1.25 percent a year. By 2021, Sama Global would have been given the right to convert, in whole or in part, the funding into ownership of up to 60 percent in PHA, in accordance with foreign ownership laws and regulations.

PHA sees itself as a “countryside enabler.” Through 100-percent subsidiary West Palawan Premiere Development Corp. (WPPDC), it is working on a 500-hectare project in Brgy. Bacungan, Puerto Princesa. WPPDC is also developing a five-hectare Nagtabon property.Another subsidiary, Redstone Construction and Development Corp., is currently serving two clients in Surigao. It has an existing fleet of 39 heavy equipment, 89 dump trucks and about 15 service vehicles.Another subsidiary, Concepts Unplugged Business Environment Solutions, offers cold storage facility in nine sites around the country. —Doris Dumlao-Abadilla INQ