Greenergy takes control of fintech firm in P54-M deal with ABS-CBN

MANILA, Philippines—Businessman Antonio Tiu’s Greenergy Holdings Corp. is taking control of financial technology company U-Pay Digital Technologies Inc. in a P54 million deal after buying out media giant ABS-CBN Corp.

The companies disclosed the share purchase agreement in separate filings on Monday (Aug. 2). This involved the acquisition of 51 million U-Pay shares at P1 each and another P3 million to cover reimbursement for pre-operating expenses.

Greenergy is expected to take a 51 percent stake in U-Pay once the deal closes and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) issues a letter of no objection on or before Sept. 30 this year.

“The transaction will strengthen the position of the company in the field of financial technology,” Greenergy said in the filing.

U-Pay is a fintech company engaged in the business of customer and merchant e-wallet/e-money services. It has a Type “C” E-Money Issuer license issued by BSP and is duly registered to operate as a remittance and transfer company.

Before the acquisition, U-Pay was a partnership between ABS-CBN and iBayad Online Ventures Inc.

U-Pay is a platform that allows users to buy goods, pay bills, and send money. Merchant partners included utilities and banks like Globe Telecom, Manila Electric Co. and Metropolitan Bank & Trust.

ABS-CBN entered into a partnership with iBayad in 2019 when the two companies committed to invest an initial P100 million to establish a digital payments venture.

TSB