THE Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) continues to increase its stake in the fixed equities bourse with the signing of a second share purchase agreement this week from one of the latter’s remaining stakeholders.

In a disclosure on Wednesday, the PSE said it has signed an SPA with Tata Consulting Services Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd. for the purchase of the 500,000 common shares it holds in Philippine Dealing System Holdings Corporation  (PDSHC), equivalent to 8% of its total issued and outstanding stock.

The shares were priced at P304.23 apiece, for a total purchase size of P152.11 million to be paid in full at the transaction’s closing. This is lower than the consideration of P320 per share the PSE has used in acquiring PDSHC shares from other stockholders.

“A one-time payment arrangement at a discounted price was agreed upon with TCS given its status as a non-resident foreign corporation,” the PSE said.

This is the second deal the PSE has signed this week, after it acquired San Miguel Corp.’s 250,000 shares in PDSHC for P80 million on Jan. 15.

In 2017, PSE also bought out the stakes in PDSHC held by the Bankers’ Association of the Philippines, Whistler Technologies Services, Inc., Investment House Association of the Philippines, the Philippine American Life and General Insurance, Co., and FINEX Research and Development Foundation, Inc.

With these transactions, the PSE has raised its stake in PDSHC to 69.03% of majority ownership. The deals will be completed after securing approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, and the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC).

Other remaining shareholders in PDSHC include the Development Bank of the Philippines with 1.54%, the Social Security System with 1.54%, and the Investment House Association of the Philippines with 1.12%.

The local bourse previously said that it will be using the part of the proceeds of its stock rights offering to fund its acquisition of PDSHC. The PSE aims to raise up to P3.16 billion from the issuance of up to 11.5 million common shares priced at P275 each to eligible shareholders from Feb. 5 to 9.

The stock rights offering likewise aims to dilute the ownership of trading participants in the local bourse, a requirement the SEC has set for PSE to proceed with its merger with the PDS.

The PSE expects the two capital markets to be merged within the year, as it has already secured clearance from the PCC for the transaction.

PSE saw its net income attributable to the parent grow by 54% to P514 million in the first nine months of 2017, following an 8% rise in revenues to P953 million during the period.

Shares in PSE lost a peso or 0.41% to P241 each on Wednesday. — Arra B. Francia

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