San Miguel Properties hikes stake in Bank of Commerce

MANILA, Philippines - San Miguel Properties Inc. (SMPI), the property development arm of San Miguel Corp., has acquired an additional 7.16- percent stake in medium-sized lender Bank of Commerce (BoC) for an undisclosed amount.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, SMPI said it acquired the shares from Valiant Ventures & Development Holdings. The sale is subject to completion and submission of parties of the standard closing conditions including corporate approvals.

The acquisition has been approved by the company’s board of directors in a meeting held last Dec. 8, SMPI said.

In April 2010, SMPI acquired an additional 5.117 million common shares held by College Assurance Plan (CAP) in BoC for P180 per share.

BoC earlier obtained the Securities and Exchange Commission’s nod to raise its capitalization to P22 billion from only P6 billion.

Documents filed with the SEC show that of the P16-billion increase in authorized capital stock, P11.45 billion has been subscribed and P7.36 billion paid-up.

The capital-raising program was intended to fund the bank’s expansion plans to allow BoC to leverage further and amplify its asset portfolio, anchored on its lending and trading business.

The additional capital will finance several infrastructure upgrades, especially technology-driven products and channels like automated teller machines (ATMs), point-of-sale (POS) payment schemes, Internet banking services, and cash management services.

BoC, 51.1 percent owned by the SMC Retirement Plan, is one of the country’s progressive commercial banks which has been in operations since 1991. It offers a wide range of banking and other financial products and services, including traditional deposit products, corporate banking, consumer banking, treasury, asset management, trust services, trade, and credit card services.

Credit ratings issuer PhilRatings said the San Miguel Group’s controlling interest in BoC provides the bank a greater opportunity to further expand its volume of business. BoC services dominant and leading domestic companies which belong to the SMC Group, including its suppliers/dealers/distributors.