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Philippines: Alibaba owner invests in Globe unit
MANILA, Philippines – Ant Financial Services Group, the financial technology company controlled by Alibaba’s Jack Ma, is making a strategic investment to get a 45-percent stake in Globe Fintech Innovations Inc. (Mynt), a unit of Globe Telecom Inc., to help accelerate financial inclusion in the Philippines.
In a statement, Globe said Ant and Ayala Corp. have signed definitive documents to enter into an investment via subscription to new shares in Mynt.
Mynt, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Globe Capital Venture Holdings (GCVHI) under Globe and Ayala Corp., operates GCash and Fuse Lending.
GCash is a micro-payment service which allows individuals to transform their mobile phone into a wallet to purchase prepaid load and other goods, pay bills, send money, make donations, as well as shop online.
Fuse Lending, meanwhile, offers personal and business loans to unbanked and underserved Filipinos through the use of mobile technology, alternative data, and innovative credit scoring methods.
Asked how much worth of investment would be made by Ant in Mynt, Yoly Crisanto, senior vice president for corporate affairs at Globe, declined to disclose the amount, but said in a text message “it represents only 10 percent of total equity of Globe.”
After the investment is made, she said “Ant and GCVHI will have 45 percent holdings each, (while) the rest is Ayala.”
The fresh capital infusion is expected to help Mynt become a world-class online and offline payment provider, as well as scale up its mobile wallet services and expand digital financial services.
The deal, which is Ant’s first investment in the Philippines, shows the company’s confidence in Mynt and its management team to upgrade digital financial services in the region.
Through the partnership, Ant will share with Mynt its know-how in using technology to provide access to financial services by individuals.
“A world-leading digital financial services provider has decided to partner with us. We are confident that having a strategic partner for Mynt will help fulfill our mission of providing financial services in a non-traditional manner that will benefit the majority of our population who are unbanked. With this partnership, we are set to democratize financial services in the Philippines,” Globe president and CEO Ernest Cu said.
For his part, Ant CEO Eric Jing said the company, which is based in China, is committed to build a technology-based ecosystem with partners, including Mynt.
“We look forward to working with Mynt’s innovative management team to provide simple, secure, low-cost and accessible digital financial services to unserved and underserved individuals and small and micro enterprises in the Philippines, thus helping individuals to live a better life and helping SMEs to grow and create more jobs,” he said.
Ayala chairman and CEO Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala said the partnership is a great platform to redefine the country’s financial services space amidst a robust consumer market and an increasingly digital environment.
“With the combined strengths of Ayala, Globe, and Ant Financial, we believe we can help more Filipinos gain access to safer, more convenient, and extensive payment and lending platforms,” he said.
Source: http://www.philstar.com/business/2017/02/20/1673895/alibaba-owner-invests-globe-unit