iAyala in talks with Japanese group on P500-M data center

iAyala is currently in talks with a Japanese group on plans to set up a P500-million data center as part of the Ayala group’s strategy to gain a firmer foothold on the growing information technology business.

The data center will host computers, websites and will be open to companies that may want to utilize its facilities.

An Ayala official is currently meeting with his Japanese counterpart to finalize the deal.

To further strengthen iAyala, the company created by Ayala Corp. to gain entry into the IT field and Internet space, there are also plans to transfer the shares owned by Ayala Corp. in Ayala Systems Technology Inc. (ASTI) and Electronic Data Interchange into iAyala.

ASTI is a full IT solution company which handled some of the computerization needs of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS). On the other hand, some of the clients of EDI include GSIS and the Garments Textile Export Board (GTEB).

At present, Ayala Corp. has divided its business into six fields: the food business which basically focuses on poultry and meat company Pure Foods Corp.; information technology under iAyala; telecommunications (Globe Telecom); banking, finance and insurance, real estate under Ayala Land; and integrated microelectronics (Ayala has a company which exports microelectronic parts which it manufactures in its plant in the Laguna Technopark.).

While confirming that Ayala is indeed bent on strengthening its IT business, officials said there are no plans to sell Pure Foods Corp. just to finance its IT investments.

"Ayala has enough liquidity. On a consolidated basis, we are talking about an 11-digit figure. And Purefoods did very well during the first quarter of the year. So I don’t think Ayala is divesting from Purefoods," an official said.

Aside from iAyala, the Ayala group is also looking at a 20.5-percent stake in an e-procurement company.

Ayala’s investments in the IT field already include MyAyala which focuses on the business to consumer side, to Asia which is a regional site, Meet.Asia.com which is a site for companies in China.

The official also said that Ayala also has two other investments in the United States which may be listed soon.