Daiwa pays P1.32B for 14.9% of COL

Japanese investment house Daiwa has paid P1.32 billion for a 14.9 percent stake in the country’s leading online stock brokerage COL Financial Group Inc.

The deal – which involves the sale of 70.924 million shares priced at P18.63 per share to Daiwa Securities Group – was executed at the local stock exchange on Friday.

This marked a premium of 15 percent from the closing price of P16.20 per share on Thursday, the day that the transaction was announced.

It also brought the valuation of 18-year-old COL Financial, which is controlled by businessman Edward Lee, to P8.87 billion, richer than its current market capitalization of P7.7 billion.

COL Financial is the Philippines’ largest online stockbroker, providing access to stock and mutual fund investments, expert guidance, and advisory services to over 200,000 clients. It is the leading stockbroker in the country in terms of number of trades executed. It also ranks sixth out of 132 trading participants in terms of value turnover as of end-2016.

The local brokerage house also operates the first and only online fund supermarket in the country, called COL Fund Source, which allows clients to invest in various mutual funds using their online accounts.

COL Financial also owns 100 percent of COL Securities Limited Ltd., formerly CitisecOnline.com Hong Kong Ltd., a wholly-owned foreign subsidiary domiciled and incorporated in Hong Kong, primarily to act as stockbroker and to invest in securities.

Daiwa is one of the leading and comprehensive financial service firms in Asia, offering a complete
spectrum of financial products, with core business segments in retail, wholesale and asset management.

The Japanese firm’s investment in COL Financial is seen to give Daiwa “the opportunity to participate in the Philippines’ fast-growing retail segment and young wealth builders, which are among the major beneficiaries of the country’s strong economic prospects,” a statement from COL said.