Listed shell company acquires a third of Marcventures

Bright Kindle Resources & Investments Inc was cleared to buy a third of nickel miner Marcventures Holdings Inc.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Bright Kindle, formerly Bankard Inc, said its board of directors approved the acquisition of 600 million shares in Marcventures, representing 32.94 percent of the miner's total issued and outstanding capital.

Bright Kindle and Marcventures have some common directors, including their chairman Cesar C. Zalamea and president Isidro C. Alcantara Jr, who was authorized to determine the price as well as the terms and conditions of the acquisition. Shares in the nickel miner fell 0.16 percent to close at P6.10 per share.

The transaction is up for shareholders' approval in a special meeting next month.

A group of investors led by RYM Business Management Corp took over shell company Bankard from the Yuchengco-owned Rizal Commercial Banking Corp (RCBC) and its subsidiary RCBC Capital Corp in a transaction coursed through Philippine Business Bank’s (PBB) Trust and Investment Center.

According to Marcventures’ latest regulatory filing, the trust unit of Alfredo Yao’s PBB owns 600 million shares in the listed firm.

After transferring all of its assets and liabilities including its credit card business to RCBC, Bankard changed its name to Bright Kindle Resources and Investments Inc and primary purpose to that of an investment holding firm.

Last month, Marcventures’ wholly-owned unit Marcventures Mining and Development Corp (MMDC) received a clearance from the Mines and Geosciences Bureaus (MGB) to resume its mining operations in Surigao del Sur.

In April, the MGB ordered MMDC to shut down operations for mining outside its approved area. MMDC holds a mineral production sharing agreement for a 4,799- hectare tenement located in Cantilan, Surigao del Sur.

- Interaksyon