Yao Group firms up plan to list RC Cola maker

MANILA, Philippines - The investor group led by businessman and former ambassador Alfredo Yao will firm up next month plans to list a beverage firm through the backdoor route.

The group will first await the completion of its P3-billion acquisition of listed entity Maybank ATR Kim Eng Financial Corp., the company’s top official said.

“We will decide after the transaction is complete,” Zest-O Group and Asiawide Refreshments Corp. (ARC) chairman Yao said in a phone interview.

“Definitely we will use Maybank ATR,” he said.

Last week, Maybank Kim Eng Holdings Ltd. (MKEHL) sold its entire 89.75-percent stake in Maybank ATR to Mazy’s Capital Inc. for P3.19 billion. Mazy’s Capital bought 958.923 million Maybank ATR shares at P3.3298 apiece.

The closing date for the acquisition of Maybank ATR is on Oct. 25, subject to certain conditions.

Yao said Mazy’s Capital is composed of shareholders of ARC plus other new investors.

Early this year, Zest-O Group expressed its intent to list ARC, the exclusive manufacturer and distributor of RC Cola in the Philippines. The share sale will support ARC’s plan to tap other markets in Southeast Asia, one of the emerging regions in the global economic scene.

Maybank ATR is a shell company following MKEHL’s move to consolidate all its assets into Maybank ATR Kim Eng Capital Partners Inc. (MATRKECP).

All assets of Maybank ATR, which include shareholdings in AsianLife and General Assurance Corp. and ATR Kim Eng Land Inc., were transferred to MATRKECP.