PSE buys SMC stake in PDS

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) has cemented control of Philippine Dealing Systems Holdings Corp. (PDS Group)—in line with plans to unify the country’s capital market infrastructure—with the latest deal to acquire the 4-percent stake held by San Miguel Corp.

This latest transaction to buy San Miguel’s stake in PDS brings to a total of 61.03 percent the PSE’s interest in PDS, the holding firm for fixed-income trading platform Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp., Philippine Depositary and Trust Corp. and Philippine Securities Settlement Corp.

SMC agreed to sell 250,000 common shares of PDS, subject to certain closing conditions including the approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and compliance with the provisions in the articles of incorporation of PDS, among others.

Previous to this, the PSE was itself a shareholder of PDS and had likewise signed separate deals to acquire the PDS shares of the other entities: Bankers Association of the Philippines and affiliated institutions (24.47 percent), technology provider Whistler Technologies (8 percent), Investment House Association of the Philippines (0.5887), the Philippine American Life and General Insurance Co. (4 percent) and Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines (3.0844 percent).

“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,” the PSE said. —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA