GT Capital completes buyout of Charter Ping An

MANILA, Philippines - GT Capital Holdings Inc., the umbrella holding firm of the Metrobank Group, has completed the 100-percent acquisition of Charter Ping An Insurance Corp.

In a statement, GT Capital said it purchased 1.7 million common shares of Charter Ping An for P712 million.

The acquired shares represent the remaining 33.3 percent of the non-life insurance firm’s outstanding capital stock, the selling shareholder of which was First Metro Investment Corp., the investment banking arm of Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co., (Metrobank).

In October last year, GT Capital acquired 66.7 percent of Charter Ping An’s outstanding capital stock.

 â€œThe full consolidation of Charter Ping An creates synergies and comes at an opportune time when the country’s non-life insurance industry expects growth in key sectors such as financial services, property, and auto,” GT Capital president Carmelo Maria Luza Bautista said.

First Metro president Roberto Juanchito Dispo said the sale would strengthen the capital position of Metrobank.

“The sale of the First Metro-owned Charter Ping An shares to GT Capital is in line with our investment divestment and capital raising strategy to comply with Basel III requirements,” Dispo said.

Charter Ping An currently operates 19 branches nationwide and maintains a sales force of more than 700 agents. It reported a 20-percent increase in net income in the first nine months of 2013 to P177.8 million.

Charter Ping An’s net premiums written (NPW), the measure of real business for non-life insurance companies, rose 15 percent to P1.32 billion in the first nine months of 2013 from P1.15 billion in the same period the prior year.

Net investment income ballooned 48 percent to P88.3 million in the first three quarters of 2013 from the P59.5 million in the same period a year earlier.

GT Capital is a listed major Philippine conglomerate with interests in market-leading businesses across banking, automotive assembly and importation, auto dealership, power generation, property development, and life and non-life insurance.

Its component companies comprise Metrobank, Toyota Motor Philippines Corp., Toyota Manila Bay Corp., Global Business Power Corp., Federal Land Inc., Philippine AXA Life Insurance Corp., and Charter Ping An.