UnionBank group to acquire majority stake in PETNET
Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) subsidiaries City Savings Bank, Inc. and Union Properties, Inc., have signed a Share Purchase Agreement (SPA) with Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc. (AEV) to acquire 51% of the common shares of transaction network PETNET, Inc.
PETNET, more widely-known by its retail brand name PERA HUB, has the largest network of Western Union outlets in the Philippines. PETNET has over 2,800 outlets nationwide. It offers a variety of cash-based services including remittance, currency exchange and bills payment.
The SPA was signed by AEV Chief Finance Officer (CFO) Mr. Manuel R. Lozano, City Savings Bank Chairman and UnionBank Senior Executive Vice President Mr. Eugene S. Acevedo, and Union Properties President Mr. Peter F. Quiambao and Vice President Ms. Rebecca M. de la Cruz.
The transaction is subject to closing conditions and regulatory approval, targeted by the 2nd quarter 2018.
With this acquisition, CitySavings intends to leverage on PERA HUB’s expansive retail network and expand its existing loans-marketing partnership with PETNET. Importantly this should widen CitySavings’ mass market reach and help achieve its goal of enabling inclusive prosperity.
In addition, this move is in line with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) efforts to improve financial inclusion in the country by using non-traditional channels. Importantly, this acquisition gives the UnionBank group a strong platform to do agency banking, in which banks to employ third-party outlets to perform certain financial services in their behalf.