GSIS to sell bank

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The Philippines' state pension fund, the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), announced today that it will be selling its bank.

"I think we are mobilizing a possible auction of our bank. Some time in the next couple of days we might be publishing invitations to bid," said Robert Vergara, president and general manager of GSIS.

"The RTC (Regional Trial Court) has lifted the injunction (to stop the sale)," he added.

The sale of the bank had earlier been put on hold as some minority shareholders filed a case in court to stop the sale.

"We'll see if we can finally conclude the sale and put the bank in the solid hands of an investor that really wants to be a participant player in local banking," Vergara said.

"We need to do it within three months, so that's just before the first half of the year ends," he added.

The GSIS bank has 22 branches, most of which are outside the country's capital Metro Manila.

"We requested DBP (Development Bank of the Philippines) to advice us on the sale so we asked them to do an updated valuation as of December 2014. The range they gave us was 520 million to P670 million ($11.80 million to $15.20 million) regarding the value of the bank," Vergara said.

GSIS Family Bank was previously owned by the Dragon family in Cavite, and was first established as a private bank more than 40 years ago. The GSIS took possession of the bank in 1986.