House of Investments, the listed holding company of the Yuchengco Group, is further reducing its stake in construction unit EEI Corp. with the sale of 14.36-percent interest to Industrial Holdings and Development Corp. of Chua Group for P1.07 billion.
HI said in a disclosure to the stock exchange Monday its board approved the sale of 148,664,942 common shares in EEI for P7.23 apiece, a 20.5-percent premium over the stock’s closing price on Friday.
HI said the sale is a part of its strategy to bring in a new strategic partner in EEI.
IHDC is headed by Francis Chua, a construction engineer with business interests in construction supply including pre-cast concrete structures, cement and aggregates and investments in the logistics and real estate sectors.
“IHDC’s entry as a strategic partner is in line with EEI’s growth,” HI said.
The deal will reduce HI’s stake in EEI to 20.98 percent.
HI said it would use the proceed from the partial divestment in EEI to subscribe to preferred shares to be issued by wholly-owned subsidiary ATYC Inc.
“The additional investment will be used to reduce the loans in ATYC Inc. This will reduce interest payment and exposure to market risk,” HI said.
HI also reported in April plans to sell 20-percent stake in EEI to RYM Business Management Corp. for P1.25 billion.
EEI signed a memorandum of understanding with IHDC on Wednesday for the development of three potential solar farms with a total possible output of 150 megawatts.
The project initiation of the solar farms is targeted in the next two years.
EEI is one of the largest Philippine construction and general contracting firms with domestic and international operations spanning from Asia to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The share price of EEI fell 1.67 percent Monday to close at P5.90.
