For now, shares of the Sy-Consunji-backed company remain suspended while Dominion completes the requirements needed to push through with the transaction.
“[T]he Exchange has determined that the foregoing transaction is covered by the Exchange's revised rules on backdoor lsting,,,primarily on account of the resulting substantial change in DHI's business,” Dominion said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday.
A backdoor listing lets a business enter the stock market by merging with an already listed company instead of going through a traditional initial public offering.
Dominion earlier unveiled a plan to hike its authorized capital nearly ninefold to P30 billion from P3.42 billion as it prepares to absorb the companies controlling the massive Tampakan copper-gold project.
Tampakan takes center stage
The deal will merge Indophil Resources Phils. Inc. and Sonar Holdings Inc. into Dominion, bringing into the listed company control of 100 percent of the voting rights in Sagittarius Mines Inc., the company behind Tampakan in South Cotabato.
Tampakan is regarded as Southeast Asia’s largest undeveloped copper-gold resource.
The PSE said absorbing the project would substantially change Dominion’s business, triggering its backdoor listing rules. Dominion must also complete those requirements before trading can resume.
The suspension has frozen this year’s best-performing stock after a more than 1,000 percent rally to P15.60.
Mining makeover
Dominion’s makeover also includes the recent acquisition of a 20.43 percent stake in Atlas Consolidated Mining & Development Corp.
More is coming, with Sy-backed SM Investments planning to transfer its roughly 34 percent Atlas stake to Dominion in 2027.
—Edited by Miguel R. Camus
