By Aerol John Pateña/PNA
MANILA — The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and IFC Emerging Asia Fund are subscribing to USD40 million worth of newly issued shares in PLDT, Inc.’s Voyager Innovations.
PLDT said the investment will expand financial inclusion in the country and promote the digital economy through the use of digital payments.
“We at PLDT are quite happy to welcome the investment of the International Finance Corporation and the IFC Emerging Asia Fund in Voyager Innovations. Through its Global Innovative Retail Payments Program, IFC aims to make financial services much more accessible and affordable to the world’s low-income population by supporting innovative financial services,” PLDT Chairman and CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan said in a statement on Monday.
IFC and the IFC Emerging Asia Fund will be joining KKR and Tencent as the investors in Voyager Innovations which is the digital innovations unit of PLDT.
The investments will increase the external funding raised by Voyager from USD175 million, as announced on October 4, 2018, to USD215 million.
“The combined investment continues to make this fund raise the largest investment to date in a Philippine technology company,” according to Ma. Lourdes Rausa-Chan, PLDT senior vice president and corporate secretary.
PLDT’s ownership stake in Voyager will be less than 50 percent while still remaining as its single largest shareholder once the investments of KKR, Tencent, IFC and IFC Emerging Asia Fund are infused before the end of the year.
The IFC, which is an international financial institution that provides investments in the private sector, is a member of the World Bank.
