Pepsi PH trading halted as public float falls below 10%

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) suspended trading on shares of Pepsi-Cola Products Philippines Inc. (PCPPI) as the beverage maker’s public ownership had fallen below the 10-percent minimum requirement following the tender offer made by a controlling shareholder.

If PCPPI remained noncompliant with the public ownership rule after a six-month suspension, it would automatically be delisted from the stock exchange, the PSE said in an advisory.

The trading suspension began yesterday after the completion of the cross of shares tendered to Lotte Chilsung Beverage Co. Ltd. of Korea, the company’s controlling shareholder.

Minority shareholders holding 30.7 percent of total outstanding shares accepted Lotte’s tender offer, bringing down the company’s public ownership to 2.1 percent.

In its disclosure, PCPPI said Quaker Global Investments B.V., the wholly owned subsidiary of PepsiCo Inc., did not participate.

PCPPI remains the exclusive bottler of PepsiCo’s beverage brands Pepsi, Mountain Dew, 7-Up, Mirinda, Mug, Gatorade, Tropicana, Sting and Aquafina in the Philippines.

“The company will disclose in due course its plans with regard to its compliance with the minimum public ownership requirement,” the company said.

Lotte earlier said it had no plans to remove PCPPI from the local bourse. The Korean company also said any merger, reorganization, or liquidation of the company, or another process that would result in a material change to the company’s corporate structure or business, was out of the picture.

Lotte views the tender offer as “an opportunity for shareholders to sell their shares and potentially cash in.” It said it was a “strategic initiative that will enable it to acquire significant economic interest in PCPPI.”

The Korean firm accepted about 1.13 billion worth of ­PCPPI shares tendered at P1.95 each.