BDO gets SEC nod for merger with The Podium

BDO Unibank Inc. has secured the Securities and Exchange Commission’s go signal for Sy family-led group to merge with subsidiary The Podium Complex Inc. nearly a year after the company gained full control of the retail and office complex in Mandaluyong City.

In a stock exchange filing on Wednesday, BDO said the merger would take effect on Dec. 1 with itself, the country’s largest bank in terms of assets, being the surviving entity.

Valued at P7.08 billion, the transaction will enable BDO to absorb the assets of The Podium, the corporation that develops, operates and manages the eponymous mall and West Tower at the Ortigas Center business district.

As a shareholder of The Podium, BDO will issue 54.23 million new shares to itself in exchange for the latter’s assets, liabilities and canceled stocks.

The Podium Mall has a total leasable area of 50,000 square meters, while West Tower has 90,000 square meters.

This comes almost a year after BDO completed its buyout of the 50-percent direct equity of The Keppel Group—composed of Keppel Philippines Properties Inc. and Opon-KE Properties Inc.—in The Podium.

In March 2023, the Singapore-based group announced plans to divest from The Podium in line with its “asset monetization plans to unlock capital, which can be channeled toward new growth opportunities.”

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, which regulates BDO, approved the merger last month.

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BDO again shattered records after booking the highest nine-month earnings in Philippine corporate history this year.

The banking arm of the SM Group reported a 12-percent jump in its net profit in the January to September period, which reached P60.6 billion, driven by its core lending and fee-based service businesses.

Net interest income rose by 8.7 percent to P138.27 billion due to a 13-percent expansion in gross customer loans as all market segments saw growth.

Total assets as of end-September stood at P4.8 trillion.