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PAPER LOSS AT P7.664B SINCE DUTERTE'S TIRADE

Slim chance outsiders to buy Ongpin's shares in PhilWeb

The chances are slim that outsiders would buy the shares of businessman Roberto V. Ongpin in beleaguered PhilWeb Corporation.

The troubled businessman on Wednesday put on auction his entire stake of 771,749,896 PhilWeb shares, saying he would sell to the highest bidder.

On paper, Ongpin lost up to P7.664 billion of the value of his shareholdings since President Rodrigo Duterte singled him out on August 3 as an oligarch—embedded in government—that must be weeded out.

At that time PhilWeb shares closed at P14.18 apiece on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), with Ongpin's shareholdings valued at P10.943 billion.

At the close of trading on Tuesday, August 9, PhilWeb shares traded at P4.25 apiece which placed the value of Ongpin's  stake at P3.279 billion. The PSE has since suspended the trading of PhilWeb shares upon the company's request.

By putting his shares up for sale Ongpin noted his motives were purely for the sake of the company and its various stakeholders.

"I am doing this auction so that I will be totally out of the picture and the innocent bystanders, such as the shareholders, the employees of PhilWeb Corporation, the e-Games operators, their collective employees which number some 5,000 may be able to save their job," Ongpin said.

'Firefighting'

The market—though most players are mum—commiserate with the businessman, but are not that keen on shelling out some cash to bailout him out.

"He's just trying all options to do some firefighting," Luis Limlingan, business development head at Regina Capital Development Corp., said on Thursday.

"They really need to preserve the core business," Limlingan emphasized.

Ongpin and PhilWeb know the share sale would not be a walk in the park and are exploring other options.

PhilWeb President Dennis Valdes said the company might consider bidding for Ongpin's shares.

"Let's say nobody's interested to buy him out... Can PhilWeb itself buy him out, take the shares into treasury as well?

"So maybe PhilWeb itself can bid, take those shares into treasury with a much, much smaller equity base. I think that's a fantastic thing to think about if I'm PhilWeb," said Valdes.

'Bearish'

The market has a problem regarding Ongpin and PhilWeb because of the controversy surrounding the circumstances of the share sale.

Investors are considering their options, Limlingan noted.

"Everyone's still in panic mode. We're a bit bearish since the administration clamped down on online gaming," he said.

With such bearish sentiment, the ball is back in the hands of PhilWeb.

If the company decides to buy back Ongpin's shares, Valdes noted the company would have to raise the funds to cover the acquisition cost.

"There are many ways to skin a cat, as they say..." he said. "It all depends which financial institutions are willing to back us up for that, and that's all based on what they believe is our ability to get back on track."

Valdes said he was also thinking of making a bid on his own upon the advice of Ongpin.

"He told me to bid. All of this is very fresh news so it has to be digested a little bit ... But really, anybody with financial means who makes a bid is welcome to do so ...

"So I'll think about it, management will think about it, but right now we're gonna digest it a little bit," he said.

Source: http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/577194/money/companies/slim-chance-outsiders-to-buy-ongpin-s-shares-in-philweb?utm_source=GMANews&utm_medium=Facebook&utm_campaign=GMANewsFacebook