The Razon group is still out of Manila Water Co. Inc.’s board and management pending regulatory hurdles, but two independent directors of the former’s flagship port operations have come in to occupy similar seats in the Ayala subsidiary.
These two are Cesar Buenaventura and Octavio Victor Espiritu, who have been independent directors of International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) for two and 19 years, respectively. They now also represent two of four independent seats at Manila Water’s board, joining eight-year veteran Sherisa Nuesa and fellow newcomer and banker Eric Recto.
Bidding goodbye in yesterday’s Manila Water annual stockholders meeting were independent directors Oscar Reyes (16 years on the job), Jaime Laya (seven years) and Jose Cuisia Jr. (11 years).
Reelected to the board were chair Fernando Zobel de Ayala and vice chair Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala as well as Jose Almendras, Antonino Aquino, Gerardo Ablaza Jr., John Eric Francia and Delfin Lazaro.
On Feb. 1, 2020, Razon group’s Prime Metroline Holdings Inc., now Prime Strategic Holdings, signed an agreement to subscribe to 820 million common shares of Manila Water at P13 apiece or a total of P10.66 billion. The agreement was revised just last Feb. 15, with Prime Strategic assigning Trident Water Company Holdings Inc. to buy the shares representing about 24.96-percent economic rights and 11.91-percent voting shares in Manila Water. INQ