BPI capital hike gets BSP approval

MANILA, Philippines — The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has approved the request of Ayala-led Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) to beef up its capitalization ahead of its merger with Gokongwei-owned Robinsons Bank Corp.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), the 172-year-old bank said the BSP has approved the amendment to its articles of incorporation to reflect the increase in authorized capital to P54.6 billion from P50.6 billion on Dec. 21.

The listed bank said the increase in its authorized capital is related to the proposed merger with Robinsons Bank, with BPI as the surviving bank.

With the P4-billion increase, BPI’s authorized capital will now consist of 5.4 billion common shares with a par value of P10 per share and 60 million preferred A shares with a par value of P10 per share.

Likewise, BPI said the regulator also allowed the bank to combine the allocation of authorized common shares for Executive Stock Option Plan and Stock Purchase Plan into a three percent allocation for all employee stock incentive plans.

It said the BSP also approved the denial of the pre-emptive rights over the 406.18 million treasury shares, which shall be disposed of by BPI in accordance with Republic Act 8791 or the General Banking Law of 2000.

The bank said the amendment to its articles of incorporation is still subject to the approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Last Dec. 14, the BSP issued Resolution 1633 approving the merger between BPI and Robinsons Bank.

BPI executed a supplemental to the plan for merger with Robinsons Bank on Oct. 20 to comply with the requirements of the SEC.

JG Summit Capital Services Corp. controls a 59.99-percent stake in Robinsons Bank, while Robinsons Retail owns 39.99 percent.

Upon completion of the merger, the Gokongwei Group will get an additional six percent stake in BPI. In January, RRHI spent nearly P20 billion to acquire the 4.4 percent interest in BPI from Arran Investment Pte Ltd, an affiliate of Singaporean state fund GIC Private Ltd.