Landbank still pursuing plan to acquire 49% stake in PDS

Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank) has pushed back to this year its goal to finally snag a controlling stake in bond trading platform Philippine Dealing System (PDS).

Landbank president and chief executive Cecilia Borromeo said the state-run lender up to now “does not have all the necessary approvals yet” to seal the deal.

As such, “we are hoping to finish the transaction in 2021,” Borromeo said in a text message on Tuesday.

Borromeo earlier said Landbank was eyeing a maximum 49-percent stake in PDS so that the latter would not become a government-owned and/or -controlled corporation, which would be the case when public shares exceeded half of the total.Landbank was avoiding turning PDS into a state-run company, which will place it under more stringent regulations.

Borromeo had said they wanted PDS to remain private-run even as Landbank would be the biggest shareholder of the entity.

Landbank had been trying to acquire a controlling interest in PDS since 2018.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III had pushed for Landbank’s acquisition of PDS as he got impatient with the latter’s long-delayed merger with the Philippine Stock Exchange.