Belle Corp. has sold all its shares in Pacific Online Systems Corporation (POSC) to its consolidated subsidiary Premium Leisure Corp. (PLC).
In a filing to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Wednesday, Belle said that it has raised Php1 billion ($218m) by selling its remaining 47.85m shares, equivalent to 16.03% in POSC, to PLC.
In a separate filing, PLC said that it has already secured board approval for the sale.
The deal was priced Php20.90 per share, based on the last traded price of POSC on Aug. 4.
Belle is the majority shareholder of PLC, holding 78.7% of PLC’s total outstanding shares. The transaction will increase PLC’s total holdings in POSC to 149,520,269 shares, or equivalent to 50.1% of POSC’s 298,443,650 outstanding shares.
Belle also said in a filing that it will use the sale proceeds mostly for debt repayment. According to Financial Times market data, Belle Corp had total debt of about PHP4.8b at the conclusion of the 2014 fiscal year.
Last year, Belle transformed PLC, formerly Sinophil Corp., into its investment holding firm for its gaming assets by injecting its 34.5% stake in POSC and 100% ownership of Premium Leisure and Amusement Inc. (PLAI)
PLAI is part of the consortium that holds the license for the $1b City of Dreams Manila within the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp’s Entertainment City gaming zone. It handles the gaming operation in the casino while Belle owns the title and rights to the parcel of the land where that resort casino is built.
PLC is engaged in the development, design and management of online computer systems, terminals and software for the Philippine gaming industry. It is also the listed lottery systems provider of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).
