The Philippine Stock Exchange suspended the trading of Melco Resorts and Entertainment (Philippines) Corp.’s shares after its public float fell below the required 10 percent.
The PSE said in a notice it implemented the trading suspension following the completion of the tender offer conducted by Melco Resort’s major shareholder MCO (Philippines) Investments Ltd. which reduced Melco Resorts’ public ownership to 3.9 percent.
It said that if Melco Resorts remained non-compliant with the minimum public ownership requirement, the company would be automatically delisted from the official registry of the exchange after six months.
Under the PSE’s amended rule on minimum public ownership, listed companies are required to meet a minimum public float of not less than 10 percent of the outstanding capital stock.
“The exchange will apprise the trading participants and the investing public of further developments on the matter,” the PSE said.
MCO Investments on Monday completed the tender offer. It crossed 1.33 million common shares that were tendered by minority shareholders of Melco Resorts.
After the crossing of the tendered shares, MCO Investments acquired, directly and indirectly, a total of 5.462 billion common shares, representing 96.1 percent of the total outstanding capital stock of Melco Resorts, with the remaining 3.9 percent shareholding interest held by the public.
MCO Investments originally intended to voluntarily delist Melco Resorts from the PSE in September, citing its inability to raise funds through the local bourse despite efforts to maintain its listed status.
After receiving strong opposition from minority shareholders, MCO Investments withdrew its petition for voluntary delisting.
It also changed the purpose of the tender offer from delisting to increasing its stake in the gaming firm.
Melco Resorts was listed in the PSE through backdoor listing when it acquired Manchester International Holdings Unlimited Corp. in 2012.
It operates City of Dreams Manila, an integrated casino resort located in a 6.32-hectare property at Entertainment City in Paranaque City.
Share price of Melco Resorts closed at P7.25 Monday.