Ayala to sell 50% stake in GCash for P18 billion

Ayala Corp. will get at least P18.4 billion from selling half of its shareholding in popular e-wallet GCash in a deal with Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp., according to a stock exchange filing on Friday, October 18, 2024. Ayala said Mitshubishi would get 50 percent ownership in AC Ventures Holdings Corp., which owns 13 percent of fintech unicorn Mynt, which currently owns GCash operator G-Xchange Inc. and microlender Fuse Lending. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Zobel family-led Ayala Corp. will get at least P18.4 billion from selling half of its shareholding in popular e-wallet GCash in a deal with Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp.

In a stock exchange filing on Friday, Ayala said Mitshubishi would get 50 percent ownership in AC Ventures Holdings Corp., which owns 13 percent of fintech unicorn Mynt.

Mynt currently owns GCash operator G-Xchange Inc. and microlender Fuse Lending.

“We believe Mitsubishi can add meaningful value to Mynt, which will allow Mynt to deliver significant value to its over 94 million registered users,” Ayala President and CEO Cezar Consing said in a statement.

READ: GCash now prefers PSE to Wall Street debut

Ayala first announced plans in August to engage a “strategic investor” that would further boost the success of GCash, which gained much popularity during the pandemic lockdown.

In the same month, the country’s oldest conglomerate injected P22.4 billion in Mynt to increase its shareholding in the Globe Group’s fintech arm.

READ: Ayala firms up 13% stake in GCash, in talks with buyer

MUFG Bank Ltd., Japan’s largest bank, likewise infused $393 million into Mynt, representing an eight-percent stake.

Overall, these two fundraising activities valued GCash, which has yet to make its stock market debut, at $5 billion.