A New York-based global brokerage and investment bank announced that it bought a “block of stock” in Abacore Capital Holdings Inc. (ABA) citing the Philippine mining company’s undervalued stock price amid robust expansion and future growth potential.
A statement on Monday, Sept. 19, stated that Auerbach Grayson & Company (“Auerbach Grayson”) "successfully placed a block of stock" in Abacore Capital Holdings Inc. (“ABA”) with major institutional asset managers based in North America and Europe. The amount of shares and the seller’s identity was not disclosed.
At present, the publicly-listed ABA has interests in the leasing of gaming equipment, gold and coal mining, real estate and financial services.
The investment to ABA was made due to several factors, such as ABA’s robust expansion plans that will increase the company’s bottom line and boost shareholders’ return on their investments. Auerback Grayson also cited ABA’s stock has more room for growth due to the stock price being undervalued relative to its book value.
“We are pleased to work with Auerbach Grayson in this transaction. WeCap is grateful for the opportunity to advise clients in directing their investments towards companies that have successfully demonstrated long-term growth potential,” Job Ambrosio, CEO of WeCap Inc. (“WeCap”), said in the statement.
WeCap, a boutique advisory firm based in Manila, represented the sellers in this transaction. WeCap is in the process of securing its securities brokerage license from the Securities and Exchange Commission, having purchased the Trading Seat in the Philippine Stock Exchange of BDO Nomura.
So far, in 2022, ABA is pursuing ventures with various business partners across a range of sectors. In mining, the company signed a coal exploration agreement with Oriental Vision Mining Philippines Inc. (“ORVI”). Under this agreement, ORVI will conduct exploration work on three coal blocks ABA owns in the province of Surigao del Sur.
ABA will earn royalty fees should ORVI find coal and other minerals in the course of its exploration work. Overall, ABA has a coal concession worth 7,000 hectares.
Earlier this year, ABA sold land to the Gaisano group and a national meat-processing chain — marking these entities’ entry into the Batangas market to expand their operations. The company is also developing the ABA Energy Hub, which covers 103 hectares of land in Batangas.
In relation to this, the company sold land to a subsidiary of A. Brown & Company for the development of a liquefied natural gas facility.
ABA is also marking a new milestone with its inclusion in the FTSE Philippine Index — an index that tracks mid- and large- stocks of companies listed in the Philippine stock exchange. The inclusion will give investors across various countries greater access to ABA’s stock, allowing them to be part of the company’s ever-continuing growth story.
“We have been doing business in the Philippines market for almost 30 years and despite world events, we continue to see interest and opportunity in the Philippines as its economy continues to grow,” David Grayson, Founder and CEO of Auerbach Grayson, said. “We are uniquely positioned to work with WeCap as our firm knows the market well and we specialize in dealing in non-US companies.”
Auerbach Grayson has built its global network by establishing partnerships with local and regional brokers and banks in emerging, frontier and developed markets worldwide, with analysts in every region. The firm provides US institutional investors with trade execution and in-depth local equity research from its local partners.