Daiwa of Japan acquires 14.9% of COL for P1.32B

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 involved the sale of 70.924 million shares priced at P18.63 per share to Daiwa Securities Group—was executed at the local stock exchange yesterday.

This valuation 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 was controlled by businessman Edward Lee, to P8.87 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 online fund supermarket in the country called COL Fund Source, which allows clients to invest in various mutual funds using their online accounts.

COL also owns 100 percent of COL Securities (HK) Limited (COLHK), 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 gives 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.

Daiwa has also been investing in online stock brokerage houses across the region, riding on favorable demographics in this part of the world.