Philippine Regional Investment Development Corp. , a wholly-owned unit of listed Abacore Capital Holdings Inc., is selling a 40-percent stake in Phil Star Development Bank Inc. for $6 million.
Abacore said in a disclosure to the stock exchange PRIDE would sell its shares in the bank to a consortium led by Demry Cheng of Black Gem Development Corp. The deal is still subject to regulatory approvals.
Abacore said Cheng through Blackgem would develop and expand the bank with a consortium of local and foreign partners.
The sale of PRIDE’s stake in the bank is in line with Abacore’s thrust to pursue long-term growth initiatives that will deliver value to shareholders and take advantage of a brighter economic outlook.
“As we look forward to 2022, we have reasons to be optimistic about the future, especially with the full reopening of the economy that will allow for increased operating capacity for businesses. In turn, this will stimulate demand for financial services which we can provide for them to achieve growth,” PRIDE president Antonio Gregorio III said.
PRIDE is a duly-licensed investment house and a member of the Investment House Association of the Philippines with an authorized capital stock of P1 billion and an asset base of P2.5 billion.
The company’s thrust is to develop projects that uplift the Philippine countryside.
Phil Star is a development bank headquartered in Batangas City. It was the oldest rural bank in Batangas before it was converted into a development bank.