By Myrna M. Velasco
Dennison Holdings Corporation of current business sector rock star Dennis A. Uy has settled payment on its shares subscription to Pangilinan-led PXP Energy Corporation – the lead company that will advance the propounded oil and gas exploration at the Recto Bank offshore Palawan.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, PXP Energy noted that Dennison Holdings put in a down payment of P40.290 million, which is equivalent to 1.0-percent of his required P4.03 billion payment to Uy’s equity take in the oil and gas firm.
Uy’s company is acquiring 340 million common shares of PXP Energy, which is equivalent to 14.78-percent shareholdings of the latter. The transaction value had been set at P11.85 per share.
In an amended agreement sealed by the parties on December 26 last year, Dennison Holdings opted to accelerate its payment to PXP Energy – with the deadline on its downpayment set January 7, 2019 and the full settlement be consummated by March 31 this year.
Upon full payment of the agreed price, Uy’s firm can already nominate its representation in PXP Energy’s board – with the post of vice chairman being reserved to it.
Dennison Holdings’ shares subscription into the Pangilinan-led firm is seen strategic with advancing moves now to resume exploration at its Service Contract 72 block along Recto Bank in Palawan.
The Recto Bank prospect, which is anticipated to potentially yield commercial gas discovery, could come as a replacement for the Malampaya field which is facing output decline and eventual depletion in the coming years.
Dennison Holdings’ participation in that venture will be carried out through a tie-up it had separately sealed with China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC).
Beyond the oil and gas exploration and development target at Recto Bank, the Uy-CNOOC-Pangilinan triumvirate has also been sorting out expanded partnerships in liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects.
CNOOC and Uy are the presumptive awardee of the LNG terminal project being pushed by the Department of Energy (DOE) to secure the country’s future gas needs.
In that particular business undertaking, Uy is extending preferential rights to PXP Energy to come in as a major partner in the LNG import terminal and gas-fired power plant ventures.