Injap, Tan Caktiong test formidable alliance in stock brokerage venture

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) has approved the proposal of business tycoons Edgar “Injap” Sia II and Tony Tan Caktiong to acquire 100 percent of local stock brokerage house Tri-State Securities Inc., which will be rebranded as “DragonFi.”

In an official notice to trading participants, PSE president Ramon Monzon announced that the board had approved the application of Tri-State for a change in controlling interest in favor of BeeDragon Global Corp.

Sia’s Injap Investments Inc. and Tan Caktiong’s HoneyStar Holdings Corp. own one-third each of BeeDragon, while Jon Carlo Lim, Cathryn Lao and Don Alexander own shares equivalent to 14.33 percent, 14 percent and 5 percent, respectively.

BeeDragon, Sia and Tan Caktiong’s vehicle for financial technology (fintech) businesses, will be managed by Lim as president and chief executive and Lao as director and chief technology officer. Sia is chair while Tan Caktiong is cochair.

“Mr. Tony Tan Caktiong and myself carefully select the specific business and industry we invest in, and we see this venture to have significant long-term growth potential, and as an important strategic addition to the ecosystem that we are building out for the past 10 years since our first partnership in Mang Inasal in 2010, and our succeeding partnership in DoubleDragon in 2012. Over the long-term, we also see the fintech space to create synergic gel that would enhance and bring benefits to the various other business units in our ecosystem,” Sia said.

By having their own stock brokerage house, market analysts said this would be helpful to the tycoons, such as for estate management.

“We believe that harnessing the power of technology in a financial services context can be a force for good. Currently, less than 2 percent of the Philippines’ working-age population has a stock brokerage account. By making investing convenient and effortless, we hope to broaden participation in the capital markets, one of the key builders of wealth,” said Lim, who has over 20 years of financial market experience.