Metropolitan Bank & Trust (Metrobank) has signed an agreement with its joint-venture partner in the Philippines ANZ Funds to increase its stake in credit card unit Metrobank Card Corp (MCC) up to 100%.
MCC is one of the prominent providers of credit cards in the Philippines with more than 1.5 million cards in force.
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Subject to regulatory approvals, ANZ has agreed to initially divest its 20% stake in the joint venture for $144m.
ANZ also entered into a put option to offload its remaining 20% holding to Metrobank in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018.
The move is expected to take the total deal value to $288m.
Metrobank president Fabian Dee said: “With this transaction, we now have a great opportunity to further expand our retail capabilities.
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By GlobalData“We expect to leverage on better operational efficiencies as we eventually make MCC a wholly owned subsidiary of Metrobank.”
ANZ deputy CEO Graham Hodges added: “The sale makes sense for ANZ given our continued efforts to simplify our business and is also a good outcome for MCC and its card customers given the strength of the business. ANZ remains committed to its institutional business in the Philippines.”
