BPI secures BSP approval to fully divest in GoTyme

MANILA, Philippines — Ayala-led Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) has received formal approval from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) for the sale of its 15 percent stake in GoTyme Bank Corp.

The transaction, which transfers BPI’s stake to GoTyme Financial Pte. Ltd. and Giga Investment Holdings Pte. Ltd., was approved by the central bank through its Resolution 1145 on Oct. 3.

BPI received the notice of approval from the BSP on Oct. 9, effectively granting BPI the green light to exit its investment in the digital banking venture.

“After the sale, BPI will have no shareholdings in GoTyme Bank,” BPI said.

Earlier in March, BPI announced the sale of its 752 million common shares, representing all of its stake in GoTyme Bank. The bank sold 744 million common shares to GoTyme Financial and 7.96 million shares to Giga Investment Holdings.

The transaction was priced at P1.20 per share or P902.47 million in total. The bank said the selling prices were determined based on negotiations between the parties involved.

“The sale is intended to address any potential conflict of interest created by the significant overlap in and similarity of product offerings of GoTyme Bank and BPI,” the Ayala-led bank said.

BPI acquired shares in GoTyme Bank following its merger with Robinsons Bank Corp. last year.

The merger led to the Gokongwei Group as BPI’s second-largest shareholder, following the Zobel family. According to its recent ownership filing, JG Summit Capital and Robinsons Retail Holdings hold about nine percent of BPI’s shares.

A collaboration between the Gokongwei Group and Tyme Group, GoTyme Bank is one of the six digital banks licensed to operate in the Philippines

The total deposits of GoTyme Bank reached P17.3 billion as of August. The bank was able to onboard 1.7 million customers in the first half of the year, bringing its total customer base to 3.7 million since its launch in November 2022.

This makes the digital bank on track to hitting its goal of onboarding five million customers by the end of this year. It also sees total deposits to reach over P20 billion by end-2024.