Friday, April 25, 2008 [ manilatimes.net ]
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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