Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. agreed to sell its 51 percent stake in money transfer and remittance firm PETNET Inc. to its thrift banking unit City Savings Bank and Union Properties Inc. for P1.2 billion as part of the conglomerate’s strategy to consolidate interests in banking and financial services.
AEV said in a disclosure to the stock exchange the sale would consolidate AEV’s interests in banking and financial services under Union Bank of the Philippines.
UnionBank currently owns 99.77 percent of CSB and 100 percent of UPI.
“The sale and the resulting consolidation of all of AEV’s existing interests in banking and financial services will unlock shareholder value from the synergies between the core businesses of CitySavings and PETNET,” AEV said.
PETNET, the country’s leading urgent transaction center with over 2,500 locations nationwide, provides its customers with a comprehensive scope of reliable financial services (Western Union International and Domestic Remittance, money changing, bills payment, e-loading, DepEd loans and GSIS pension loan acceptance and micro-insurance) in one location.
Under the agreement, CSB and UPI will acquire 2.461 million shares in PETNET at P487.54 per share.
AEV said the value of the transaction was based on the agreed enterprise value for PETNET and its assets, net of the amount attributable to the other shareholders of PETNET.
The deal is subject to approvals by the Philippine Competition Commission and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
AEV acquired a controlling stake in PETNET in 2015, while the existing shareholders of PETNET led by president Larry Ocampo continue to own 49 percent.
Established in 1998, PETNET aims to expand the network of Western Union in the Philippines.
Meanwhile AEV’s construction firm Aboitiz Construction Inc., and First Balfour recently, signed an agreement to explore potential project collaborations in the Visayas.