PSE gains majority control of PDS

PSE president Ramon Monzon and PSE chief operating officer Roel Refran

The Philippine Stock Exchange has signed a deal to buy an 8-percent stake in capital market infrastructure group PDS Holdings Corp. from IT provider Whistler Technologies Services Inc.

The agreement will allow the PSE to boost its interest in PDS to 52.78 percent. This was after earlier obtaining commitment from the Bankers Association of the Philippines and affiliate firms to cede their 23.8 percent stake.

The PSE agreed to acquire the 500,000 shares held by Whistler – formerly Computershare Technology Services Phils. Inc. – for P320 per share or for a total block price of P160 million.

This was in line with the adjusted equity value of P2 billion for 100 percent of PDS, the holding firm for fixed-income trading platform Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp. (PDEx), Philippine Depositary and Trust Corp. (PDTC) and Philippine Securities Settlement Corp.

The PSE is offering to buy out all other shareholders of PDS in line with its plan to merge with the latter, in turn consolidating capital market infrastructure in the country.

“This transaction is envisioned to facilitate further growth in the local capital markets by introducing efficiencies in the trading and back office systems of both the equities and fixed income markets, among others. It is aimed at creating a better environment for the introduction of more products and services for the various market stakeholders, as well as the implementation of improvements in risk management processes,” PSE said in a disclosure on Thursday.

The purchase is subject to certain closing conditions, including approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission of any exemptive relief for PSE to own more than 20 percent of an exchange alongside the approval of other relevant regulatory agencies pursuant to law.