Japan’s Tosoh Corp firms up control of Mabuhay Vinyl

MANILA, Philippines - Japanese manufacturer Tosoh Corp. has acquired an additional 48.05 percent of publicly listed Mabuhay Vinyl Corp. for around P540 million.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Mabuhay Vinyl said Tosoh purchased a total of 317.78 million shares of the company at P1.70 apiece.

Of the 317.78 million shares, 234.57 million shares were acquired from BDO Unibank Inc.  pursuant to a share purchase agreement dated July 23, and 83.21 million shares from minority shareholders through a mandatory tender offer.

As a result, Tosoh now owns 581.78 million Mabuhay Vinyl shares, constituting 87.97 percent of the listed firm’s outstanding capital stock.

Mabuhay Vinyl is a manufacturer of caustic soda and hydrochloric acid and the only company that produces chlorine in commercial quantities.  According to its website, the company supplies more than 50 percent of the country’s requirement for sodium hypochlorite.

Mabuhay Vinyl was incorporated as a rubber shoe manufacturer on July 20, 1934 under the name Mabuhay Rubber Corp., and subsequently reorganized in 1960 to engage in chemical and polyvinyl chloride resin manufacturing and distribution.

In 2013, the company completed the upgrading and commissioning of its boiler through a technical assistance agreement with Tosoh.

Mabuhay Vinyl also leases warehouse and depot facilities in major ports of entry.

Tosoh, meanwhile, is the parent company of a Japanese chemical and specialty products and materials group that has over 100 companies worldwide.

The Japanese firm has investments in different businesses such as chemical and petrochemical, construction, automotive, consumer electronics, information technology, bioscience and environmental markets.