MANILA -The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) closed above 6,600 on Friday after infrastructure giant Metro Pacific Investments Corp. extended gains after announcing a proposal to go private.
The PSEi rose 0.63 percent, or 41.40 points, to 6,625.08 while the broader All Shares index added 0.67 percent, or 23.67 points, to 3,532.53.
Metro Pacific resumed trading after disclosing the previous day its owners and a Japanese venture that includes industrial giant Mitsui are making a P49-billion bid to buy all minority shareholdings before delisting from the Philippine Stock Exchange.
https://business.inquirer.net/397818/metro-pacific-to-go-private-after-p49-b-buyout-deal
Market analysts said the tender offer could still fail since minority shareholders might shun the “low” offer price of P4.63 per share.
Metro Pacific gained nearly 4 percent on Friday.
Data from the stock exchange also showed about 400 millions shares valued at P8.34 billion changed hands while foreigners were net buyers of an amount worth P435.61 million.
There was also a P1.25-billion block sale of EEI Corp. shares to House Speaker Martin Romualdez’s private holding company.
BDO Unibank Inc. was the top traded stock as it slipped 0.41 percent to P144 per share.
It was followed by Metro Pacific, up 3.99 percent to P4.43; Bank of the Philippine Islands, down 1.28 percent to P107.60; Ayala Land Inc., up 2.70 percent to P26.65; and SM Prime Holdings Inc., up 0.15 percent to P33.95 per share.
Overall, there were 102 advancers against 100 losers while 43 companies closed unchanged.