Metro Pacific: Pangilinan won’t retire soon

Tycoon Manuel Pangilinan has no plans to retire anytime soon, according to Metro Pacific Investments Corp. said on Wednesday following reports that he was “increasingly” considering resigning.

Metro Pacific has told the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that Pangilinan is only making plans for an eventual retirement to ensure an orderly succession.

“Mr. Pangilinan will remain Chairman and President and Chief Executive Officer of the company for the foreseeable future,” the company said.

A business news website last week quoted him as saying, “This is staring me in the face. I know that I only have X years of my useful life. And I’m planning it.”

This was picked up by a broadcast leaflet that also stated that Metro Pacific “may welcome a strategic investor shortly and may consider delisting from the market.”

The holding company responded that, as a “leading infrastructure company with a very attractive portfolio of assets, MPIC is attracting a lot of interest from investors.”

The newspaper report claimed that Metro Pacific could strike a deal with a group of strategic investors during the first quarter of the year.

“The Company is considering all proposals in the interests of the Company and its shareholders, but to date it has not entered into any definitive agreement for the acquisition by any party of a significant share in the company, and the Company is also not aware of any final agreement entered into by its major shareholders,” the firm said in a statement.

While chief financial officer (CEO) June Cheryl Cabal-Revilla is said to have told reporters that the firm is on the radar of investors such as Japan’s Mitsui, Metro Pacific noted that she also clarified that nothing is final.

“Based on the foregoing, there has not been a single transaction that requires disclosure on the Philippine Stock Exchange and an honorary commission,” the company said.

Regarding the delisting, Cabal-Revilla said “we will consider what is best for our shareholders.”

Metro Pacific told the SEC that delisting from the Philippine Stock Exchange was one of the options under discussion “in the best interest of the company and its stakeholders.”

“However, although delisting was discussed as an option, the company has not yet made a final decision,” the company said in a statement.

Metro Pacific is a division of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. LLC In the Philippines, it controls companies such as Manila Electric Co., Maynilad Water Services Inc. and Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. His interests also extend to medical services, education, food and drink, and real estate, among others.

The company’s share price fell 4.0 percent, or 16 centavos, to 3.84 pesos on Wednesday, as the Philippine Stock Exchange’s benchmark index rose 1.14 percent.