Ayala completes acquisition of minority stake in Mynt

AYALA CORP. has completed its acquisition of a 10% stake in financial technology firm Globe Fintech Innovations, Inc. (Mynt), as it looks to take part in the growing online financial services market.

In a disclosure to the stock exchange on Wednesday, the country’s oldest conglomerate said it closed the deal for its purchase of a total of 93.33 million shares of Mynt. The acquisition was made after the company’s wholly owned subsidiaries, AC Ventures Holding Corp. and Ant Financial Services Group, subscribed to Mynt’s new shares.

At the close of the transaction, Ant Financial has gained a 45% ownership stake in Mynt, while Ayala has a 10% stake through AC Ventures. The remaining 45% will still be held by Globe Capital Venture Holdings, Inc. ( Globe Capital).

Mynt is a financial technology unit under Globe Telecom, Inc.’s wholly owned unit, Globe Capital. The company provides both online and offline payment services to consumers, merchants, and organizations through micropayment service provider GCash as well as technology-based lending firm Fuse.

“Ayala’s investment in Mynt is in recognition of the strong growth potential of financial technology in the country amid a solid consumer market and an increasingly digital environment... This acquisition allows Ayala to capture the opportunities in the financial technology space,” the company said.

The payment services provider has over four million registered customers, with an average weekly transaction value of P1.5 billion.

“The partnership will allow Mynt to become a world- class online and offline payment provider, scale its mobile wallet services, and provide a wider range of digital financial services to its customers,” the company said.

Ayala said the value of the transaction was based on standard valuation methodologies, which includes comparable company multiples and discounted cash flows. The company noted that the value was “not material,” as it was less than 10% of Ayala’s total shareholders’ equity, according to the disclosure.

Ayala recorded a net income attributable to the parent of P15.06 billion in the first six months of 2017, 9.3% higher year on year on the back of a double-digit growth in both its property and banking units.

Shares in Ayala climbed 2.08% or P20 to P980 apiece at the Philippine Stock Exchange on Wednesday. —