LT Group ups stake in PNB to 60%

MANILA, Philippines - LT Group Inc. (LTG) of tycoon Lucio Tan is strengthening its foothold in Philippine National Bank (PNB), increasing its stake to about 60 percent, a company disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) said.

LTG corporate secretary Doris Te said the group acquired additional indirect ownership of PNB through 10 companies with shares in the bank: All Seasons Realty Corp., Society Holdings Corp., Profound Holdings Inc., Total Holdings Corp., Kentwood Development Corp., Fil-Care Holdings Inc., Safeway Holdings & Equities Inc., Purple Crystal Holdings Inc. Dynaworld Holdings Inc., and La Vida Development Corp.

With the acquisition of these indirect shares, LTG’s indirect voting control in PNB will now increase to 59.88 percent from 48.61 percent.

Late last year, LTG secured approval from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority  (HKMA) to own a majority stake in Allied Banking Corp. (Hong Kong) Ltd., which is a crucial move to finalize the merger between Allied Bank and PNB.

Aside from its more than 200 domestic branches/offices, Allied Bank has two offshore branches in Bahrain and Guam; a wholly-owned subsidiary in the United Kingdom (Allied Bank (UK) Plc); a majority owned subsidiary in Hong Kong (Allied Banking Corp. (Hong Kong), Ltd.); a majority owned commercial bank subsidiary in Xiamen, Fujian province, China (Allied Commercial Bank), and an affiliate commercial bank in San Francisco, California, USA with a branch in Guam (Oceanic Bank).