MJCI ties up with TAB Phils

In its efforts to stretch the coverage of horseracing nationwide, the Manila Jockey Club Inc. has tied up with TAB Philippines Inc. for the establishment of more off-track betting stations and the installation of a new computer totalizator.

MJC corporate secretary Ferdinand Domingo said the company’s board approved the agreement with TAB which will expand the operations of MJC throughout the country, initially targetting 50 sites in key cities.

TAB is a Philippine company in joint venture with Jupiter’s International, an Australian-based gaming and wagering consultancy and technology supplier; Sky Channel, another Australian company which is a well-known race broadcast and simulcast provider; Bell Telecom, a satellite technology provider; and Winners Circle, the exclusive broadcast company for horseracing in the country.

Recently, MJC said it would raise P48.19 million through a stock rights offering to fund the development of a new racetrack in Carmona, Cavite.

A stock rights offer is an option given to stockholders to buy additional shares at a price lower than its market price. While this exercise will result in the expansion of the company’s outstanding shares, this will also involve a convenient capital raising scheme for the firm.

MJC said the pre-emptive rights offer would entitle the existing stockholders to subscribe to an additional 0.93 of a share for every share held at a price of P1 each. The company has roughly 51.81 million outstanding common shares out of an authorized capital base of 100 million shares, at P1 par value.

Last month, MJC said it would relocate its horseracing facility from the San Lazaro Hippodrome in Sta. Cruz, Manila to a 77-hectare lot in Carmona to pave the way for the old site’s development into a mixed-use real estate project anchored by the SM mall chain.

The relocation project will be undertaken by KPPI Land Corp., a unit of Kuok Philippine Properties Inc.

In April, MJC granted SM Prime Holdings, the holding firm for the SM Group’s mall operations, the right to develop and put up a shopping mall in a four-hectare portion of the San Lazaro property. Under the terms of the agreement, SM Prime will be given a call option or the right to purchase on a staggered basis over a span of three years the shares of stock of San Lazaro Holdings Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary of MJC which holds the four-ha. property.

As of end-June 2001, MJC had posted gross revenues of P137.724 million. With lower operating expenses, its bottom line improved to a net income of P6.783 million.

For the past two years, MJC was in the red, posting losses of P16.28 million and P26.327 million in 1999 and 2000, respectively.