i posted then that my dark horse bets for 2012 were prim/prime media holdings and ca/concrete aggregates (see : my dark horse bets for 2012 ).
however, recent developments obligate me to make that january 23 post up to date.
however, recent developments obligate me to make that january 23 post up to date.
regarding prim ...
on 27 june 2012, prim disclosed to the pse (see: update on business plan) that prim's timetable to clean up its books and transfer its assets has been moved to the 1st quarter of 2013. these activities were deemed necessary before any new capital raising activities (possible entry of new investors/issuance of new shares/infusion of assets (stock swap)) can be accomplished. it will be recalled that my reason for choosing prim was my speculation that it will be the backdoor vehicle for the listing of mr. manny pangilinan's media assets, primarily abc 5. with this disclosure by prim, im taking out prim from my darkhorse bets for 2012 and temporarily lock it inside my stock freezer.
on ca ...
last friday, it was reported that ortigas holdings director jaime ortigas disclosed in the newspapers that ortigas holdings exercised its right of first refusal and bought the 34% block of hsbc in ortigas holdings (see:SM buy-in blocked by Ortigas Group), thereby preventing the sm group of mr. henry sy from buying into the ortigas holding company which has been rumoured before to be in negotiations with hsbc for the purchase of its 34% position in ortigas holdings.
moreover, ayala land also disclosed last friday that it will forge a strategic alliance with ortigas holdings in the development of its landbank and properties and will allocate an initial 15B pesos for that purpose (see: Executive Committee authorization to negotiate and enter into strategic alliance with Ortigas group, allocation of P15 billion). while both ali's and ortigas' disclosures do not have any direct relevance to ca, my earlier speculation that ca is a possible backdoor vehicle for the listing of some or all of the ortigas holding's assets gains a new lease on life. previously, ortigas holdings had indicated in its capital raising plans the following options: either an IPO, private placement or both. with the ortigas purchase of hsbc's stake and ali's disclosure of a strategic partnership with ortigas, im now thinking that ortigas will opt to retain ownership of its assets and just pursue joint venture projects with ali, just like what ali did with the madrigal's alabang properties, prc's santa ana race track properties and mjc's san lazaro properties. im further speculating that the ortigas properties will be infused into listed ca, then later pursue an IPO of the backdoored assets via ca thru the issuance of new shares as part of ortigas holding's capital raising activities.
to summarise ...
im keeping ca in my list and taking out prim indefinitely from my 2012 dark horse bets.
