I-Remit board clears Surepay deal

MANILA, Philippines — Listed remittance firm I-Remit Inc. has approved its binding term sheet with Surepay Technologies Inc., moving forward with a proposed P20-million capital infusion as the company disclosed that vice chairman Ben Tiu now owns a 47-percent stake.

In a regulatory filing, I-Remit said its emergency board, together with Tiu, approved the binding agreement with Surepay during a meeting on Aug. 14.

The disclosure identified Tiu as vice chairman “who now owns 47-percent shareholdings,” although it did not provide details on when or how his stake reached that level.

The approval marks another step forward for the proposed investment after I-Remit earlier said that it and Surepay were still in the final stage of negotiating the terms of the transaction.

I-Remit previously disclosed plans to issue 10 million unissued common shares to Surepay at P2 apiece for a total consideration of P20 million.

The transaction is intended as a capital infusion to strengthen the remittance firm’s financial position and support strategic business initiatives. Surepay is an unrelated third-party investor and the proposed transaction does not constitute a related-party deal, according to I-Remit.

Under the latest board action, Tiu was also designated as I-Remit’s authorized representative and was empowered to sign and execute documents related to the Surepay term sheet.

This differs from I-Remit’s July 31 disclosure on the planned emergency board, which said I-Remit president and CEO Maria Rodora Banares was expected to be designated as the company’s authorized representative for the Surepay agreement.

Aside from the Surepay transaction, the emergency board approved the opening of an account with Philippine National Bank’s Annapolis branch.

The board also discussed the outstanding loans of Bansan Choa, whom I-Remit identified as a former shareholder, as well as “available remedial options.” The disclosure did not state the amount of Choa’s outstanding obligations or provide further details on the measures being considered.

I-Remit had initially scheduled the constitution of its emergency board for Aug. 7, before moving it to Aug. 14. The temporary board was formed to act on the Surepay agreement and other urgent corporate matters.