Voyager Innovations Inc., the digital innovations arm of PLDT Inc., expects to finalize negotiations with a new investor within the next two to three months.
“I think they are still in process. I think we are finding it harder to get investors into… Generally speaking, I think the environment has changed. The tough questions are now being asked like when will you break even in terms of your EBITDA [earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization] in terms of your profitability. We want to see that, how sustainable is it, so these are tough issues,” PLDT and Voyager chairman Manuel Pangilinan said.
“I think the universe has become tougher in terms of their own requirements for the turnaround, so I think we are at the final stages of negotiating or agreeing with the final investors.” he said.
Pangilinan said he was expecting Voyager to break even by 2023 and post P3.6 billion to P3.7 billion in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization by 2024.
“The demands for cash are still there as per schedule, so we are delayed in terms of getting the final list of investors to agree on the valuations and the amounts that they would invest, so we decided, before they run out of cash which is probably by the middle of the year, by June, before they hit the wall…they should provide…financing among themselves,” Pangilinan said.
PLDT earlier said it planned to sell at least a 13-percent stake in Voyager to a new investor from its existing share of 47 percent to 48 percent.
International Finance Corp., the private sector arm of the World Bank and IFC Emerging Asia Fund, completed a $40-million investment in Voyager in December 2018.
The investments completed the $215-million fund raised for Voyager that included $175 million from KKR and Tencent Holdings Inc.
Voyager earlier said it would leverage the new capital and the significant expertise of KKR, Tencent, IFC and IFC Emerging Asia Fund to accelerate the digital and financial inclusion in the Philippines and enable the broader Filipino population to participate in the digital economy.
The company’s award-winning technology platforms support digital services such as PayMaya”•the most recognized prepaid payment wallet service in the Philippines.
PayMaya Philippines Inc., a subsidiary of Voyager, earlier said it was expecting to process P1 trillion worth of cashless payment transactions by 2023 as e-wallet account penetration was growing faster in the Philippines.
PayMaya is processing over P200 billion worth of transactions annually. It is the only digital financial services company with an integrated suite of solutions for consumers and merchants complemented by the widest remittance partner agent network.
