IFC to acquire 7.2% stake in RCBC

IFC to acquire 7.2% stake in RCBC
By Doris Dumlao
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:17:00 03/09/2011

MANILA, Philippines—The International Finance Corporation, the private sector investment arm of the World Bank group, is acquiring a 7.2 percent stake in the Yuchengcos' Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) as part of the multilateral firm's expansion in the Philippine banking sector.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Tuesday, RCBC said it recently received approval from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to sell to the IFC 73.45 million common shares.

Based on RCBC's closing price of P26.65 per share on Tuesday, the block has a market value of about P1.96 billion, albeit the actual selling price per share was not disclosed.

Of the total shares to be sold to IFC, 50.43 million shall consist of treasury-held common shares and 23.02 million shall be unissued common shares out of the bank's authorized capital.

The investment will give IFC one board seat in RCBC.

IFC has said it plans to come in as a strategic investor in key Philippine banks that need to beef up core capital ahead of stricter global capital adequacy requirements.

IFC wants to increase its stake in the Philippine financial sector and the need for banks to hike core or tier 1 capital to prepare for Basel 3 capital adequacy requirements was seen presenting a good opportunity.

At present, IFC has a minority stake in two other banks — tycoon Henry Sy's Banco de Oro Unibank, the country's largest bank, and the Tambuntings' Planters Development Bank, which is a leading player in small and medium enterprise lending.

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