Bank of the Philippine Islands and Robinsons Bank Corporation Make Merger Plans Public

MANILA - The Bank of the Philippine Islands formally announced its intended "merger" with the Robinsons Bank Corp., which is run by Gokongwei, on Friday.

The signing of an agreement between BPI and RBC was accepted by the boards of directors of BPI, Robinsons Bank, Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc., and JG Summit Capital Services Corp., the Ayala-led bank informed the Philippine Stock Exchange. "With BPI emerging as the surviving company, subject to shareholders and regulatory approvals," it said.

Following the merger, about 6% of BPI's outstanding capital stock would be owned by Robinsons Bank stockholders, according to the bank.

The sides anticipate closing the acquisition by the end of 2023, according to BPI.

The acquisition, according to BPI President and CEO Jose Teodoro "TG" Limcaoco, "exemplifies BPI's strategic goal to expand its customer base, accelerate development, and eventually boost shareholder value through collaborations with the Gokongwei group."

We are eager to strengthen our ties with the Gokongwei group even more through various collaboration opportunities across the Gokongwei group's vast ecosystem, he continued. "Together, we aim to maintain quality banking services and offer additional best-in-class and innovation products to our expanded client base.

As of June 2022, Robinsons Bank has 354 ATMs, 189 branches and branch-lite locations, with total assets of P175.9 billion.

A digital bank license for GOTyme, which is anticipated to be fully operational this year, is also held by the Gokongwei group.

According to data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, BPI was the 4th largest bank in the nation by assets as of March 2022.