Gov’t to end...

private equity firms for UCPB.

According to a report by Thomson Reuters, among the foreign entities that expressed interest in UCPB was Japan’s largest financial group and the world's second largest bank holding company, Mitsubishi UFJ.

Other banks that have publicly expressed interest that time in unlisted UCPB include the country's largest lender, BDO Unibank, Inc., China Banking Corp., East West Banking Corp. and Robinsons' Bank.

The finance department had planned to sell its stake in UCPB by September, 2015 for at least R15 billion, which only covered the bank’s recapitalization requirement and on top of the valuation for the government’s 73.9 percent shareholdings.

PMO valued the government’s “undetermined” number of shares in UCPB at P1 apiece.

UCPB is the 12th-largest lender in the Southeast Asian country, with more than 200 branches and assets worth nearly R250 billion, based on the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) data.

Earlier, the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC) said that pro- ceeds from the sale of UCPB shares should go to a trust fund that the government will put up for coconut farmers.

In July, 2013, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the government on the 72 percent equity stake in cases filed by businessman Eduardo Cojuangco Jr., which allowed the state to begin facilitating the privatization of UCPB.

However, the UCPB’s remaining 26.1 percent stake remains under litigation.

UCPB is currently in the process of executing its 10-year rehabilitation plan that began in 2008, after the government, through PDIC, provided financial assistance to help it deal with losses accumulated prior to 2003.