Global buys P2.2-B shares of Philbank

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved a P2.2-billion special block sale of Philippine Banking Corp. (PhilBank) shares by parent firm Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. (Metrobank).

The buyer is Global Business Bank. The sale involves a total of 14.426 million common shares representing about 50.22 percent of the issued stocks of Philbank. The selling price per share is P152.50 per share or a total of P2.2 billion, or a premium of 52.5 percent from the P100 per share closing price last April 7.

The original plan of the selling shareholders of Philbank was for Global Bank to purchase the subject shares. However, given the restrictions of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas on maximum ownership by Global Bank on financial institutions, and given the fact that selling shareholders wanted cash in the shortest possible time, Metrobank accommodated Global Bank by initially purchasing the shares in behalf of Global Bank.

The block sale of the Philbank shares from Metrobank to Global Bank is being undertaken to reflect the original intention of the parties of having Global Bank purchase said shares.

The special block sale is in line with the ongoing merger of Philbank and Global Bank, with listed Philbank as the surviving entity. After the union, the merged bank will be named Philippine Banking Corp.

The SEC approval for special block sales is a requirement for listed companies since such transactions have been suspended since Oct. 14, 1999 until an acceptable rule has been adopted and approved by the Commission.

The suspension until lifted, requires listed companies that want to undertake a block sale to get the approval of the SEC which will assess each request on a case to case basis.