|
Philex Mining Corp. announced Thursday that a Dutch
firm has bought into its wholly owned subsidiary, Philex Petroleum
Corp.
In a disclosure to the Philippine
Stock Exchange, Philex said it signed a share purchase accord with
Anatolian Property B.V. on April 23 wherein the mining firm has
agreed to sell 245 million shares of Philex Petroleum for $5.918
million to the Netherlands-based firm. The shares are equivalent to
49 percent of the outstanding capital stock of the oil subsidiary.
The agreement with Anatolian
Property will be closed not later than June 5 this year unless the
two parties push it back to a later date.
Last month, Philex Petroleum
bought 19.85 percent of Petroenergy Resources Corp. (PERC) as part
of the company’s increasing investment in oil exploration and
production. PERC is engaged in oil exploration and technical
services to other firms exploring oil in the Philippines. This is
the second time the petroleum subsidiary bought into another oil
exploration firm.
The oil firm also invested an
additional $3 million in American oil exploration firm Pitkin
Petroleum Corp. by buying 6 million shares or 6.4 percent of the
company. Pitkin is a Texas-based junior exploration company that
currently produces on a small-scale basis in Louisiana. It also has
properties in Vietnam and Peru. Prior to that, Philex Mining already
held 4 million shares or 4.4 percent of Pitkin Petroleum worth
around $2 million. The Philex group’s combined shareholdings in
Pitkin has increased to 10.7 percent.
Among the firm’s petroleum
interests in the Philippines include projects in northwest Palawan
and Sulu Sea. Through its wholly owned unit, Brixton Energy and
Mining Corp., Pitkin is pursuing pre-development activities in a
coal property in southern Zamboanga.
--Likha C. Cuevas-Miel
|
