PNOC-EC insists on public offer

PNOC Exploration Corp. is bent on pushing through with its planned public offering this year, despite the objections of its parent firm, state-run Philippine National Oil Co.

According to PNOC-EC chair and CEO Gemiliano C. Lopez Jr., the company’s board of directors recently passed a resolution to have the share offer issue settled by the government’s economic cluster.

Aside from raising additional funds, the follow-on offering will enable PNOC-EC to comply with the Philippine Stock Exchange rule requiring listed firms to have a public float of at least 10 percent.

The government, through PNOC, has a 99.71-percent stake in PNOC-EC while the public owns only 0.29 percent.

Lopez said PNOC-EC had until the end of November this year to comply with the requirement.

The upstream oil and coal arm of PNOC plans to tap several advisors for the transaction, including Citigroup Global Markets, ATR Kim Eng Capital Partners Inc.; UBS Investments Philippines Inc.; and Deutsche Bank.