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THE real estate arm of San Miguel Corp. told the
Philippine Stock Exchange that it has completed the purchase of a
Bank of Commerce stake that will provide the property developer
access to bank financing for its projects and clients.
The company’s disclosure stated
that San Miguel Properties Inc. (SMP) and San Miguel Retirement Plan
have completed the acquisition of 34 percent or 10 million common
shares of the total outstanding capital stock of the bank. SMP and
the fund invested P2 billion for the shares at P200 each. The
property firm is supposed to put up P1.749 billion from its
internally generated funds.
Last year, SMP said its decision
to buy into Bank of Commerce was hinged on its need to have a ready
credit line for its projects and prospective clients. Its
acquisition would also give the San Miguel group more access to
financing for its diverse operations. The acquired lender would
service the financing needs of San Miguel’s dealers, agents and
wholesales for depository and payment channels, guaranteed letter of
credit, credit lines, loans and discounts, SMP said.
Likewise, the property developer
said the bank would also benefit from this deal since it can tap
SMP’s customer base by offering them investment and deposit
products, credit cards, home improvement and appliance financing.
In December, SMP sold its entire
stake of 354,386 common shares or 29.38 percent in KSA Realty Corp.
to the developer of the Shangrila-EDSA mall in Ortigas for P1.812
billion. SMP and Shang Properties Inc.—formerly Edsa Properties
Holdings Inc.—signed a share purchase agreement but the closing of
the transaction and the payment would be subject to the satisfaction
of certain conditions at that time.
--Likha C. Cuevas-Miel
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