Philippine National Bank, the lending arm of the Lucio Tan Group, said Monday its board approved a plan to sell 14 percent of PNB Holdings Corp., an affiliate that invests, develops and sells all kinds of assets, major of which are prime real estate properties.
The bank said the sale will be done through a private placement.
Financial details of planned sale weren’t immediately disclosed but the property dividend declared in 2021 gave PNB shareholders a combined 51 percent of PNB Holdings, which was then valued at P23.9 billion.
PNB Holdings used to be a fully-owned subsidiary of the bank until 2021, when the lender decided to monetize its low-earnings assets. It declared a property dividend in May of that year, which paid off the new shares issued by PNB Holdings and resulted in PNB giving up majority stake in the unit. PNB currently holds 49 percent of PNB Holdings.
Even with the reduction after private placement, PNB will still effectively have veto power over major decisions in PNB Holdings since the lender will still hold a 35 percent stake.
There are initial plans to list PNB Holdings on the Philippine Stock Exchange.
