MANILA, Philippines - Property developer Alphaland Corp. announced on Thursday, February 21, it has complied with the Philippine Stock Exchange's 10% minimum public ownership (MPO) requirement.

In a disclosure to the bourse, Alphaland announced that shareholder Alphaland Holdings (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. sold 49.6 million common shares to a "qualified buyer." The shares were sold for P19 apiece or P942.4 million in total.

The deal was finalized outside the exchange and involved payments of P186 million for documentary stamp tax and P44.94 million for capital gains tax to the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

"Alphaland wishes to assure the exchange and the investing public that it has exerted all efforts to comply with the MPO requirement,” the company said.

Trading of Alphaland shares was suspended early 2013 due to non-compliance to the 10% public float rule. Alphaland's public float was only at 8.03% prior to Thursday's transaction.

Alphaland is a joint venture between London-based private equity firm Ashmore Group and RVO Capital Ventures Group, a holding firm controlled by former trade minister Roberto V. Ongpin. - Rappler.com