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Friday, January 23, 2004
Aboitiz gets control of Veco
By Jessica B. Natad
AFTER the court ruling in favor of the Aboitizes in the power struggle between the Garcia and Aboitiz shareholders of the Visa-yan Electric Co. Inc. (Veco), the Aboitizes will gain majority control over the firm.
In an interview, Aboitiz Equity Ventures (AEV) chief operating officer Erramon Aboitiz said if the court’s decision is implemented, AEV will be Veco’s controlling shareholder, owning 54.55 percent of the power distribution company.
The Garcias have been at Veco’s helm since 1918.
Regional Trial Court Judge Aproniano Taypin of Branch 12 last Jan. 8 ruled in favor of AEV on the case it filed in court accusing the Garcias of misappropriation and breach of fiduciary responsibility.
AEV questioned the swapping of Hijos de F. Escaño shares in Veco with those of Vivant Corp., a company controlled by the Garcias.
Hijos is a holding company, also majority owned by the Garcias. AEV owns 46 percent of Hijos.
AEV’s lawsuit seeks the return of Hijos’ shares in Veco that were swapped with the Veco shares owned by Vivant.
Look forward
“We are still looking forward to working with them (the Garcias) as our partners in improving the services of Veco,” Aboitiz said.
“What we wanted was just for our share to be in our name, and we got what we wanted,” he told Sun.Star.
As regards the Garcias’ filing of an appeal before the appellate court to question the court’s decision in favor of AEV, Aboitiz said: “It’s a natural thing for them to do. They are free to do that.”
The Garcias, in a press statement, took offense at a portion of the court decision, which accuses them of having misappropriated money through a share swap.
Approved
“How can we be accused of misappropriation when the share swap was approved by the Philippine Stock Exchange and the Securities and Exchange Commission?” Veco public relations assistant Ethel Natera said earlier.
Aboitiz said AEV had no immediate plans for the business at Veco. But he said the company has enough cash to continue and even improve its operations.
He said financial assistance would not make a difference.
Philippine Export-Import Credit Agency president and chief executive officer Joel Valdes earlier said the government-owned agency had offered its loan and loan guarantee services to Veco, but the company refused its offer.
(January 23, 2004 issue)
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