DBS Sells Remaining Philippine Bank Stake for $681 Million
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DBS Group Holdings Ltd., Southeast Asia’s largest lender, agreed to sell its remaining stake in Bank of the Philippine Islands for S$850 million ($681 million) to focus on key markets including Singapore and Hong Kong.
The transaction, to be completed in two phases ending in March, will generate a gain of about S$447 million over the carrying value, DBS said in a statement yesterday. The 9.9 percent stake will be acquired by GIC Pte, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, and Ayala Corp., the Philippine company that is already BPI’s biggest stakeholder. The divestment is DBS’s largest to date, data compiled by Bloomberg show.