PSE nears full PDS Group takeover

The Philippine Stock Exchange, Inc. (PSE) is nearing full ownership of Philippine Dealing System Holdings Corp. (PDS Group) after signing a deal to acquire another block that would raise its holdings to about 97.63 percent.

In a disclosure on Wednesday, PSE said it had signed a share purchase agreement for 192,776 common shares of the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), representing 3.08 percent of PDS.

This brings the local bourse closer to its goal of owning the entire PDS Group, which operates the country’s bond trading platform and provides securities depository services.

This will allow the unification of capital market infrastructure, which has taken decades of on-and-off deal-making.

At the P600-per-share acquisition price listed in the filing, the DBP shares will cost about P115.67 million. The transaction is subject to customary post-closing conditions.

PSE currently beneficially owns 94.55 percent of PDS after buying out banks and other institutional shareholders.

For the broader acquisition program, the filing lists 4.8 million shares, or 76.74 percent of PDS’ outstanding capital stock, and an aggregate purchase price of P2.76 billion.

The pricing was based on PDS’ enterprise value of P3.75 billion.

PDS owns Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp., which operates the fixed-income exchange, and a 97.72-percent stake in Philippine Depository & Trust Corp.

PSE wants the acquisition to help companies access both equity and debt funding through a single venue for listing and capital raising.

It also expects the integration of trading, depository, clearing and settlement functions to improve efficiency.

“These transactions are part of PSE’s plan to acquire up to 100 percent of [PDS] to align the Philippine capital market with other markets globally which have a single exchange structure for fixed income and equities,” the exchange said.

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“The transaction results in a vertical integration of the depository function within the same group that operates trading, clearing and settlement of listed securities,” it added.

The DBP deal follows a series of purchases that made PDS a majority-owned PSE subsidiary in December 2024.

In January, PSE president and CEO Ramon Monzon outlined a plan to dissolve PDS, with its operating subsidiaries to be held directly by the exchange.

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