Phinma to acquire another school, eyes expansion overseas

MANILA, Philippines — The Phinma Group is beefing up its network of educational institutions as it set its sights on acquiring more schools in the country and abroad.

Phinma Corp. president and COO Chito Salazar said the company is looking to add another school in its growing portfolio this year.

“We’re continuing to look (for potential acquisitions). I cannot reveal who we are in discussions with, but we are in discussions with one more in Metro Manila,” he said.

 Salazar said the target is to close the transaction by the third quarter of the year.

Aside from Metro Manila, he said the group is also looking for schools in Cavite and Davao.

 Salazar said the group was previously in talks with Pines City Colleges in Baguio, but the deal did not push through.

For its overseas expansion, Phinma is also looking at opportunities to expand in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.

 “While our priority is to establish and really firm up our expansion in Indonesia, we are already beginning to explore other countries. We do want to see if we can enter the Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam areas,” Salazar said.

 “Like in Vietnam, we’re looking at schools that are tertiary and probably at about 3,00 to 5,000 students today. That’s what we’re looking at for us to grow. We’ll probably start seriously looking at Vietnam end of this year, and if ever we purchase it might be in late 2025,” he said.

Phinma, through Phinma Education Holdings, started investing in the education services sector in 2004 through the acquisition of Araullo University in Nueva Ecija.

 It later on expanded its presence across the country, growing its network of schools to include Phinma Cagayan de Oro College, Phinma  University of Pangasinan, Phinma  University of Iloilo, Southwestern University Phinma in Cebu City, Phinma  Saint Jude College in Manila, Phinma  Republican College in Quezon City, Phinma  Rizal College of Laguna, Phinma Union College of Laguna and Horizon Education in Indonesia.

“All of the schools are expanding. We’re really expanding aggressively,” Salazar said.

In the Philippines, he said the group’s target for the next five years is to have 350,000 students enrolled in its schools.

“Target for next school year is 175,000. So we’ll continue growth in the Philippines,” he said.