Investors pounced on First Pacific shares yesterday after the firm released its latest plans to shed assets and tackle its debt.
First Pacific closed at 79 HK cents, up 3.94 per cent on a volume of 86.22 million shares.
Metro Pacific Corp, which is 80.6 per cent owned by First Pacific, will transfer its 50.4 per cent stake in property developer Bonifacio Land Corp to Greenfield Development and Ayala Land, which will pay off a US$90 million Metro Pacific debt. The move is part of Metro Pacific's efforts to restructure about US$350 million in debt and follows a wave of asset sales by First Pacific, which is also saddled with heavy debt.
Metro Pacific was not able to meet payments on the US$90 million loan from First Pacific, which came due on December 31 last year.
'If the deal is completed, it will ease First Pacific's liquidity problems,' said Eva Cheng, an analyst at SHK Financial Group.
KGI Asia said the transaction could herald plans by First Pacific to dispose of other Philippine assets.
