Public exit for Keppel as Kepwealth steps in

Keppel Philippines Holdings Inc. (KPHI) will officially leave the Philippine Stock Exchange on​ 8 July, after its main shareholder, Kepwealth Inc., bought nearly all the company’s shares.

The company said on Wednesday it has paid the necessary fees on 30 June to complete the process after the bourse regulator approved the delisting on 25 June.

Kepwealth said removing KPHI from the stock market will make it easier to make business decisions and carry out company plans without going through lengthy shareholder approvals. 

It also noted that KPHI’s shares were rarely traded and had poor stock performance, so giving shareholders the chance to sell their shares through the buyout offer was a fair exit option.

Kepwealth now owns 99.34 percent of KPHI after offering to buy out the remaining shareholders between 28 April and 11 June.

With very few public shareholders left, the company applied to voluntarily delist, meaning it will no longer be a publicly traded company.

KPHI first filed its delisting request in April and updated it in June after the results of the share buyout. The company’s stocks were traded under the symbols “KPH” and “KPHB.”

KPHI is engaged in investment holdings and real estate. Its real estate subsidiaries include KPSI Property Inc., which owns and leases office space in Makati; Goodwealth Realty Development Corp., which manages properties in Batangas; and Goodsoil Marine Realty Inc., which owns shipyard land in Bauan, Batangas, and is registered with PEZA as an ecozone operator.

It also has an indirect 13 percent stake in Consort Land Inc., which owns land in Subic used by Keppel Subic Shipyard. Consort Land also manages the Subic shipyard ecozone and supplies power to businesses within the industrial park.