GT Capital acquires 40% stake in Toyota Financial for P2.1 B

MANILA, Philippines - GT Capital Holdings Inc. of banking tycoon George S.K. Ty is acquiring 40 percent of the shares held by its banking units Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. and Philippine Savings Bank in a leasing and financing company catering to Toyota vehicles for P2.1 billion.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, GT Capital said it has signed a sale and purchase agreement with Metrobank and PSBank for the acquisition of their respective 15-percent and 25-percent stakes in Toyota Financial Services Philippines Corp. (TFSPC).

GT Capital said the share purchase is part of the company’s strategy to invest “in market leading businesses that bring synergy to its current component companies.”

As for Metrobank and PSBank, GT Capital said the transaction is in line with their capital planning initiatives under the new Basel III global banking standards.

The P2.1-billion acquisition price was derived following an independent valuation exercise and subjected to third-party fairness opinion, the investment holding firm said.

TFSPC is one of the country’s leading leasing and financing companies, exclusively catering to Toyota vehicles.

Last March, GT Capital acquired another Toyota cars and parts distributor, buying 62.42 million common shares or 79.84 percent of Toyota Cubao Inc. for P311.5 million.

Toyota Cubao, formed in 1989, is one of the pioneering and leading Toyota dealerships in the Philippines.

GT Capital posted a net income of P4 billion in the first half of the year, down more than a third from P6.1 billion in the same period last year.

Car dealers Toyota Manila Bay Corp. and Toyota Cubao Inc. reported combined consolidated revenues of P7.8 billion in the first half, up 17 percent from P6.7 billion a year ago. The firms’ combined income surged 37 percent to P81 million from P59 million last year.