PSE further hikes stake in PDS

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Stock Exchange Inc. (PSE) has secured additional stake in the Philippine Dealing System Holdings Corp. (PDS) as part of efforts to acquire up to 100 percent of the holding company that owns the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. (PDEx).

The PSE said it has entered into a share purchase agreement (SPA) with AIA Philippines Life and General Insurance Co. Inc. for the sale of the latter’s 250,000 common shares in PDS at P600 apiece.

The AIA shares are equivalent to four percent of the total issued and outstanding stock of PDS.

With the addition of the AIA stake to other recently signed SPAs and term sheets with various shareholders, the PSE is poised to have 88.45 percent ownership of PDS.

Overall, the PSE is now set to purchase a total of 4.22 million PDS shares from various shareholders worth P2.53 billion.

The shares equivalent to 67.47 percent will be added to the PSE’s existing 20.98-percent stake in PDS.

The PSE said that closing of the transactions is subject to the customary conditions such as signing of definitive agreements, the required corporate approvals and delivery of closing certificates.

So far, the PSE said that it has closed the transactions under the SPAs with Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines Research and Development Foundation as well as with the Investment House Association of the Philippines.

The PSE earlier entered into SPAs with the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines Research and Development Foundation for shares of stock in PDS equivalent to 1.54 percent and Investment House Association of the Philippines’ 0.65 percent.

Other SPAs signed previously by the PSE were with the Singapore Exchange Ltd. to acquire its 20 percent stake, with Whistler Technologies Inc. for its eight percent stake, San Miguel Corp. for its four percent stake and Golden Astra Capital Inc. for its 0.36-percent shareholding in PDS.

The PSE has also signed term sheets with the Bankers Association of the Philippines for its shares and those owned by BAP Data Exchange Inc. and certain member-banks for an equivalent of 28.83 percent of PDS as well as with Mizuho Bank Ltd. for its 0.08-percent stake.

PSE president and CEO Ramon Monzon earlier told The STAR that they are targeting to sign additional SPAs with more shareholders of PDS within this month.

The transactions are part of the PSE’s plan to acquire up to 100 percent of PDS, to align the Philippine capital market with other markets globally which have a single exchange structure for fixed income and equities.

It also seeks to provide investors with a facility to trade fixed income, equities and other products in a unified marketplace.

The PDS is the holding company that owns the PDEx, the operator of the fixed income exchange. It also owns the Philippine Depository & Trust Corp., which serves as the depository for equities and fixed income securities.

Monzon, however, earlier said that attaining the goal of consolidating the equities and fixed income exchanges could be achieved even without the PSE having 100 percent ownership in PDS.

“It is possible to consolidate both exchanges without full ownership of PDS. We only need a majority stake of 51 percent to do this,” he said.

Among the remaining PDS shareholders with a sizable stake, the PSE has yet to enter an SPA with is Tata Consultancy Services Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd. for its eight-percent stake in PDS.