Insurance firm challenges Union Cement purchase

A Philippine insurance company has asked the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to reverse an earlier order exempting the sale of Union Cement Holdings Corp. (UCHC) shares from the mandatory tender offer rule. In a complaint, National Life Insurance Co. (NLIC) said the corporate watchdog should hold that Cemco Holdings, Inc. should have first bought its 45 million shares in Union Cement Corp. (UCC) before it purchased the stakes in Union Cement Holdings of Bacnotan Consolidated Industries, Inc. and Atlas Cement Corp.

As a result of the purchase, Cemco’s stake in Union Cement increased by 36% to 53%. Union Cement Holdings is the controlling shareholder of Union Cement.

"The purchase of the controlling interest in UCHC by Cemco without making a tender offer for complainant’s shares in UCC is attended with fraud as it violates the complainant’s rights as a minority stockholder in UCC," the insurer said.