Bacnotan Consolidated Industries has just bought from two Danish firms almost 811,000 shares of Atlas Cement Corp. for US$4.4m.
The company last month said its board approved the purchase of Atlas shares from FLS Industries and The Industrialization Fund for Developing Countries (IFU) of Denmark.    In disclosures to the exhange, Bacnotan said it bought 595,675 Atlas shares from FLS Industries for $3.2m. It also purchased 215,000 shares of stock of Atlas Cement from The Industrialization Fund for Developing Countries for $1.2m.
The shares bought from FLS Industries are equivalent to 27.08% while those from the fund total 9.77%.  

In its disclosure in December, Bacnotan said the "shares will be purchased at an amount equivalent to the net cash value of the shares as of Dec. 31, 2004 [approximately P260 million] and under such other terms and conditions as management may deem appropriate".  

Bacnotan owns 53.15 per cent of Atlas Cement. It recently changed its name to Atlas Holdings Corp as the board approved the change in its primary purpose to that of a holding firm.   The purchases are expected to further strengthen Bacnotan’s leadership in the Philippine cement industry.