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THE Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) announced last week that it
would tap JP Morgan as the financial adviser and underwriter for the
local bourse’s demutualization plan.
Under the Securities Regulation Code, the PSE is
required to limit the ownership of any group, company or industry in
the bourse.
Francis E. Lim, PSE president, said JP Morgan
proposed that the local bourse sell fresh shares. Under the plan, up
to 1 percent of the bourse’s outstanding capital stock would be
issued to the PSE Inc.’s group employee stock purchase plan but
details have yet to be approved by the board.
Lim said the securities that would be sold would
come from the available unissued shares of the PSE. The proposal
also entails the issuance of warrants and subsequent listing to
“encourage the brokers to sell [their holdings]” to lower their
ownership from 45 percent to 20 percent. Warrants are derivative
instruments that grant holders the right but not the obligation to
buy in the case of a call, a stated number of shares at a specified
price for a limited time.
Lim said these plans would be presented to
stockholders on May 17.
-- Likha C. Cuevas-Miel
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