PSE finalizes purchase of an additional 23.8% in PDS

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) has sealed its acquisition of an additional 23.8 percent in Philippine Dealing System Holdings Corp. (PDS) from the local banking industry for P476.45 million, thus putting the country’s capital market infrastructure closer to unification.

The deal is based on an adjusted equity valuation 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.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, PSE said it had signed a share purchase agreement with the Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP) for the purchase of 23.8 percent of PDS shares.

“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,” the PSE said in its disclosure.

As the PSE already owns 21 percent of PDS, the deal with BAP boosts its ownership to 44.8 percent.

Aside from the PSE and BAP, another key shareholder of PDS is Singapore Exchange Ltd., which owns around 20 percent. The minority shareholders are: San Miguel Corp. (4 percent), Tata Consultancy Services (8 percent), Financial Executives Institute (3.1 percent) and Computer Technology Services (8 percent).—DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA