BIZ BUZZ: Dark horse victory
How can a relatively smaller bank like Union Bank of the Philippines, 10th in rank in the local banking community in terms of total resources, outbid much bigger players who have likewise desired Citibank’s consumer and retail banking assets in the Philippines?
UnionBank didn’t necessarily beat its larger peers in terms of pricing, if the grapevine is to be believed. It was not the highest bid on the table, said one source familiar with the transaction.
We can recall at least one local merger and acquisition deal in the past, where the seller picked a buyer based on other considerations beyond pricing.
In this recent deal, price was part of the consideration for Citi (which earlier said it had generated “fantastic” bids for the franchise) while people and customers also ranked high in the consideration. In short, UnionBank bagged the deal based on a combination of different metrics.
On Friday, UnionBank president Edwin Bautista assured that all of Citi’s 1,750 consumer bank and supporting employees would get to keep their jobs since there was no redundancy of functions.
Citi, for its part, said UnionBank had been selected “following an extensive and competitive auction process.”
The P55-billion buyout by UnionBank is expected to close by the second half of 2022.
Citi’s Philippine consumer franchise was the first to be established in Asia by Citi’s former CEO John Reed, known as the father of consumer banking in Citi. The American banking giant always tells new hires that Citi Manila is one of the crown jewels of Citi’s consumer business.
Meanwhile, UnionBank has four ex-Citibankers in its board: Bautista himself, Justo Ortiz, Anna Aboitiz-Delgado and Nina Aguas, who previously headed Citi’s consumer business in the country before joining Insular Life.
Bautista, Aguas and Ortiz have all become Citi’s “Distinguished Alumni Awardees,” with Aguas getting her award only a few weeks back (There’s just one honoree per year).
In short, while UnionBank was perceived as the dark horse in this race, its leadership actually has a profound understanding of this business. —Doris Dumlao-Abadilla
Good news for ANI
Businessman Antonio Tiu would be ending 2021 with some good news for his flagship AgriNurture Inc. (ANI), Biz Buzz learned over the weekend.
That’s because the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP)-Region XI has given the green light to the rice-corn production project of ANI in partnership with the Unified Bagobo Tagabawa Tribe (UBTT) of Davao del Sur and North Cotabato.
This approval was contained in a letter signed by NCIP chair Allen Capuyan, which detailed the Certification Precondition (CP) for the ANI rice-corn project to be operational in the UBTT ancestral domain, particularly in Barangays Binaton and Goma, Digos City, Davao del Sur.
The publicly listed ANI, which Tiu chairs, also earlier entered into an agreement with UBTT to plant rice-corn on 10,000 hectares of ancestral lands in the province.
“We are deeply grateful to the NCIP led by Chair Capuyan for recognizing the importance of this rice-corn project, a key component of President Duterte’s food security policy and investment thrust for indigenous peoples,” UBTT said.
The indigenous people’s group also thanked Agriculture Secretary William Dar for endorsing and supporting the collaboration between the agribusiness sector and indigenous peoples, particularly ANI’s planned investment in their sprawling ancestral lands.
To finally jump-start the project, the UBTT also appealed to the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) to provide much-needed financial support to the massive undertaking.
The tribe has reached out to DBP president Emmanuel Herbosa to provide the needed loan facility to ANI to finally establish and operationalize this food project.
“We’re hopeful and expectant that president Herbosa will fast-track the process since ANI has already complied with the bank’s loan requirements,” the group said. “President Duterte has instructed government financial institutions to provide funding support by way of loans to make these kinds of projects a reality.”
UBTT said support from DBP was critical to ensure the success of the project envisioned to create around 10,000 jobs and livelihood to the entire ancestral domain once fully operational.
“The tribe also appreciates the help extended by DBP vice president Annie Veloso and her team whose silent yet ostensible effort and hard work is instrumental to the timely completion of technical and field work components of the process,” the group said in its statement.
The tribe also cited the continuing support and assistance of Davao del Sur Governor Mark Cagas, Digos City Mayor Josef Cagas and the barangay captains of Binaton and Goma, who have been there since the project’s inception.
“We reiterate our sincere commitment to continue our collaboration with government, to fully cooperate with ANI and to support and protect the integrity and sustainability of this project,” UBTT said.
Now that’s something positive to end the year with. —Daxim L. Lucas
Email us at [email protected]
Join our Viber community: inq.news/inqbusinesscommunity
