Tanco group eyes university

Businessman Eusebio Tanco, owner of the Systems Technology Institute (STI) group of schools, has set his sights on a major university in Metro Manila, following a recent trend of local billionaires investing in higher-education institutions.

“We’ve signed up to buy into a university in Metro Manila,” Tanco said in a recent interview. He refused to name the school, saying that he was bound by nondisclosure agreements.

Tanco, who has investments in port operations and nonlife insurance, said he would spend about P1.2 billion to P1.3 billion for the acquisition of a majority stake in the university.

He hinted that this would be a university on Taft Avenue, near Manila City’s so-called “University Belt.”

He said this as he announced a P2.5-billion expansion program for the STI group of schools, which specialize in information technology (IT) and healthcare courses.

“We are building 100,000 square meters of classrooms this year. I think that’s more than the government is building,” he said.

He said the operations of the university he is buying and STI would remain separate from each other. “We are operating STI in a nontraditional way and we’ve been very successful with that,” he said.

“STI is doing very well,” he said. Tanco said he was also considering a “back door” listing for STI that could be done by merging the school with dormant listed firm JTH Davies Holdings Inc. Tanco took over JTH last March.

STI, founded in 1983, currently has over 100 college campuses around the country. It also has seven grade schools in Metro Manila and northern Luzon.