Romeros ready PSE-listed vehicle

Romero-led listed firm MIC Holdings Inc. has approved a change in its corporate name as it prepares to invest in its new line of business of seaport development.

MIC Holdings said at the weekend that its board had approved to rename the company “Global Port 9000 Inc.”

The company’s primary purpose was also changed to now read “To own, invest, manage, operate, maintain and develop port facilities, including other maritime activities supportive of port operations and shipping and to establish or acquire subsidiaries and affiliates within or outside the Philippines.”

The changes were approved during the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting last Friday.

At the meeting, the company elected a new set of directors to serve for the remainder of 2011 and the whole of 2012. Leading the nine-member team was Michael Romero, who was named chairman.

Romero, son of businessman Reghis Romero II, has said the group plans to consolidate all its port assets under MIC Holdings. The group acquired MIC Holdings from businessman Antonio “Tonyboy” Cojuangco last August for P175 million.

The younger Romero has said the group may raise as much as P3 billion in fresh funds for capital expenditure needs through a follow-on offering by MIC Holdings.

The Romero group, through its unit Harbour Centre Port Terminal Inc., operates a 79-hectare cargo sea port at the Manila Harbour Centre in Manila’s port district.

Another Romero company, the Manila North Harbour Port Inc. (MNHPI), holds the rights to develop the large Manila North Harbor complex in Tondo, Manila.