2GO Group set to redeem 4.5M preferred shares in December

2GO Group Inc., the country’s largest shipping firm, is redeeming over 4.5 million preferred shares this December in line with plans to delist from the stock exchange.

According to a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Monday, the same shares, which will be redeemed at P6 each, will also be delisted from the local bourse once redeemed.

“The Board of Directors of 2GO Group Inc. approved the redemption of all remaining outstanding redeemable preferred shares held by each eligible stockholder of such shares at a price of P6 each,” the company said.

The company said the redemption of the shares would be done on December 6, during which the trading suspension for the shares would be lifted by the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) to allow for the transactions.

The P6-price is a significant premium over the preferred shares’ value of P2.12 each when these were last traded in January 2012.

Data from the PSE showed that the company issued 4.56 million preferred shares trading under the symbol 2GOP.

In December 2010, the major stockholders of 2GO—Aboitiz Equity Ventures and privately held Aboitiz & Company Inc. (ACO)—approved the sale of their shares in 2GO to Negros Navigation Co. Inc. (Nenaco). The sale was consummated on Dec. 28, 2010.

The equity value included all the logistics and shipping businesses of 2GO except its interest in its joint venture companies with the Jebsen Group of Norway.

The Nenaco group ended up with 93.2 percent of the total outstanding common shares of 2GO.

In February 2011, as a result of the mandatory tender offer requirement, Nenaco’s ownership in ATS increased by an additional 4.92 percent.

The firm’s latest financial statements showed the company with a net loss of P403.93 million at the end of the January to June period of 2012. This was higher than the P74.57 million the company lost in the same six months in 2011.—Paolo G. Montecillo