LISTED ISM Communications Corp. (ISM) has raised around P1.95 billion for selling its interest in the Philippine Bank of Communications (PBCom) to a Lucio Co-led firm.
In a regulatory filing on Tuesday, the company informed the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) that it signed the sale agreement with VFC Land Resources Inc. for the purchase of its 59,241,438 common shares of the PBCom at a par value of P33 apiece or P1,954,967,454.
They will now proceed to have the sale transacted via the facilities of the PSE by way of a special block sale.
With the share-sale deal, Co, through the delegated entity VFC Land, has gained an additional 12.32-percent stake in the bank, bringing its initial 37.67-percent interest to 49.99 percent.
ISM is a company engaged in information technology, multimedia telecommunications and other similar industries.
In July 2011, it acquired a 36.64-percent stake in PBCom. However, it was reduced to 21.38 percent in March 2013 upon consideration of the additional subscription from other investors.
For the first half of 2014, ISM posted a net income of P25.6 million compared to P318.1-million registered in the same period last year.
PBCom recorded a total bottom line of P190.4 million, lower than the 2013 figure of P1.18 billion due to lower trading gains this year.