Itogon-Suyoc Mines to venture into IT

Itogon-Suyoc Mines Inc., a third-liner stock which was an object of speculation the past week, will be entering into the new field of information technology and communication as it prepares to dispose of its mining assets within the next few months.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, ISMI corporate information officer Anadelia Vasquez said the company’s board of directors had approved late last week, among other changes, the company’s entry into IT and the asset sale.

She said the board will present to the stockholders an amendment to their articles of incorporation "for the expansion of the secondary purposes of the Corporation to include information technology and communication."

In line with this, Vasquez added the company will be declassiying its common shares into one unclassified class of shares, along with the denial of pre-emptive rights to its stockholders.

The company presently has 8.345 billion Class "A" common shares and 9.655 billion Class "B" common shares listed at the PSE. At the end of yesterday’s trading, its "A" shares dropped P0.01 to P0.0575 while its "B" shares slid P0.0125 to P0.0555.

Early last week, ISMI shares were actively traded on market rumors that the company would be used as the corporate vehicle to list, through the backdoor, oil giant Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp.

The company had to issue several clarifications to the PSE that it was not aware of any material information that may have affected the value and trading of its securities, including the plan to list Shell using the backdoor.

Rumors of a possible backdoor listing – where big companies buy out existing, but inactive issues and eventually list their own shares, skipping a costly initial public offering (IPO) in the process – floated as oil companies like Shell and Caltex, along with other big cap companies were being prodded to list their shares at the stock market to inject more liquidity and spur trading at the lethargic bourse.

Among the recent cases of backdoor listing involved Lucio Tan companies Tanduay Holdings (through Asia Pacific Equity Corp. or APEC) and Philippine Airlines (through Baguio Gold Holdings Corp.).

ISMI was among those singled out as a potential target for backdoor listing since the company continued to post losses brought about by lackluster mining activities and depressed mineral prices.

In the same letter, Vasquez said the company’s board also approved plans "to sell, alienate or otherwise dispose of all or substantially all of its assets," in order to raise the necessary capital to pursue its new ventures.

Established in 1925, Itogon-Suyoc is one of the country’s oldest mining firms which claims spanning a large area in the northern part of Luzon, particularly in the Benguet-Mt. Province area. Listed in 1975, the company is also engaged in the manufacture and sale of gold, silver, copper, zinc, lead, platinum, brass and iron. In June 1985, another mining firm, Benguet Corp., acquired a 54.5 percent majority stake in the company.

Since early 2000, a number of companies from both the oil and mining fields have shifted focus into the emerging IT sector. Among the most prominent were Philweb.com (formerly South Seas Resources); Island Information and Technology Inc. (formerly Island Mining); and iVantage Corp. (formerly Vantage Equities).