Maybank ATR goes on voluntary trading suspension

MANILA—Maybank ATR Kim Eng Financial Corp. (MAKE), the backdoor listing vehicle for Philippine RC Cola operations, has gone on voluntary trading suspension for five more days pending completion of negotiations on the assets to be infused into the shell company.

MAKE also requested for more time to submit additional information required by the Philippine Stock Exchange on the company’s acquisition of the operating assets of Mega Asia Bottline Corp. and Asiawide Refreshments Corp. The PSE also wants MAKE, which is now controlled by the group of businessman Alfredo Yao, to submit the agreements signed by the parties concerned.

“To date, the proposed acquisition is still under negotiation. The parties concerned have not yet executed any document or agreement with respect to said transaction,” MAKE said in a disclosure to the PSE on Friday.

As such, the PSE approved MAKE’s request for another five-day trading suspension on Friday.  Trades on MAKE had been suspended since Jan. 2.

MAKE earlier disclosed that the board of its subsidiary ARC Refreshment Corp. had approved the acquisition of substantially all the operating units of Asiawide and Mega Asia Bottling Corp.

According to its website, Asiawide holds an exclusive license from RC Cola USA to manufacture and distribute RC Cola in the Philippines. Mega Asia, on the other hand, operates the RC Cola bottling and manufacturing operations in the Philippines. It is based in Caloocan but it also has operations in other areas like Pampanga and Davao.