STI launches P600-M academic center in Cubao

MANILA, Philippines - STI Education Systems Holdings Inc. has launched the third of four new academic centers it promised to complete within the first quarter of the year.

In a filing to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the Tanco-led education firm said it has finished construction of its P600-million STI Academic Center on a 3,768 square meter property in Cubao, Quezon City.

“The improvements that we have completed with STI College-Cubao’s new campus go hand-in-hand with the innovations we have developed in delivering education to our students. Cubao’s accessibility is one of the reasons why we chose it to host one of our flagship academic centers,” STI president Monico Jacob said.

STI Academic Center Cubao follows the recent inauguration of new academic centers in Batangas and Laguna.

STI spent P340 million and P250 million for its Laguna and Batangas academic centers, respectively. Another new academic center is scheduled to be launched in Lucena within the first quarter of 2015.

The listed education firm in a separate disclosure likewise told the local bourse that it has taken full ownership of Attenborough Holdings Corp., owner of a 20-percent stake in Unlad Resources Development Corp.

STI said it acquired 20 million shares and subscription rights to 64 million common shares equivalent to 60 percent of the issued and outstanding capital stock of Attenborough.

STI previously held 40-percent interest in Attenborough and has now increased its ownership to 100 percent following the transaction.

Attenborough was a party to the omnibus agreement executed in 2012 along with STI and Unlad, a stockholder of Philippine Women’s University (PWU).

Attenborough has now declared Unlad in default of a P65-million loan it extended to the latter and has demanded it to pay the outstanding balance of the loan, including all accrued interest and value added tax arising therefrom, amounting to P70.37 million.

Besides its academic centers, STI also operates iAcademy, a college that provides specialized and industry-based information and communications degree programs, and the West Negros University in Bacolod City.