Gokongweis end up with higher stake in BPI

MANILA, Philippines — The Gokongwei Group is ending up with a higher 10.4-percent stake in Ayala-led Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) amid the ongoing merger of the banking arms of the two largest conglomerates in the country.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), the Gokongwei Group said the board of directors of Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc. has approved the purchase of the 4.4-percent effective equity interest of Arran Investment Pte. Ltd. in BPI.

The affiliate of Singapore’s GIC Private Ltd. owns a 21.9-percent interest in Liontide Holdings Inc. that has a 20-percent stake in BPI.

As part of the transaction, Arran will redeem a portion of its preferred shares in Liontide, representing 3.3 percent equity interest in BPI that would then be purchased directly by Robinsons Retail.

Gokongwei’s Robinsons Retail will likewise acquire preferred shares in Liontide, representing an additional 1.1 percent of the  outstanding shares of BPI.

In September last year, the respective boards of directors of BPI, JG Summit Capital Services Corp., and Robinsons Retail approved the merger of BPI and Robinsons Bank Corp. with BPI as the surviving entity.

The merger will result in Robinsons Bank shareholders collectively holding six percent of the resulting outstanding capital stock of BPI.

JG Summit, which owns a controlling 60-percent stake in Robinsons Bank, would end up with a 3.6 percent stake in BPI, while Robinsons Retail would get a 2.4 percent interest for its 40 percent stake in Robinsons Bank.

BPI president and CEO Jose Teodoro “TG” Limcaoco told The STAR that the merger of the two banks would be completed before the end of this year.

“Subject to corporate and regulatory approvals, we hope to complete the transaction before the end of 2023,” Limcaoco said.

According to Limcaoco, the 171-year-old bank is holding a special stockholders’ meeting on Jan. 17 for purposes of securing the required shareholders’ approval in connection with the proposed merger.

Last Dec. 14, the board of directors of BPI approved the issuance of up to 318.91 million shares to the shareholders of Robinsons Bank, approximately equivalent to six percent stake of the outstanding shares of the Ayala-led bank.

Aside from the shareholders’ approvals of both banks, Limcaoco said next steps include obtaining the execution of the Plan and Articles of Merger, and the regulatory filings with the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC), Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) as well as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

“We envision Robinsons Retail to become a leading retailer with excellent financial products for customers and suppliers alike – and the partnership with BPI simply accelerates this aspiration. We expect to generate more value by combining BPI’s premium banking ecosystem with the consumer-oriented ecosystem of Robinsons Retail, complemented further by our digital businesses,” Robinsons Retail president and CEO Robina Gokongwei-Pe said in a statement.

Robinsons Retail will be able to tap into the extensive consumer customer base of BPI to cross sell products and services while in turn giving its suppliers the capability to tap into BPI’s vast financial products to help fund their working capital requirements as they expand their business.

Furthermore, Robinsons Retail would also receive a steady stream of dividends from one of the largest and most profitable banks in the country.

Gokongwei-Pe said Robinsons Retail is aiming to become a retail giant with financial products for its customers.

“We expect to generate more value by combining BPI’s premium banking ecosystem with the consumer-oriented ecosystem of Robinsons Retail, complemented further by our digital businesses,” she said.

As of end-September, data from the BSP ranked BPI as the second largest private bank in terms of assets with P2.52 trillion, while Robinsons Bank emerged as 13th with P174.79 billion. –  Iris Gonzales