The Securities and Exchange Commission approved the the reuest of the Philippine Stock Exchange for a 45-day extension to submit detailed information on the proposed acquisition of Philippine Dealing System & Holdings Corp., operator of the country’s fixed exchange.
The move gave PSE another chance to complete its planned buyout of PDS Holdings and push through with proposed consolidation of the equities and bond markets.
SEC commission secretary Armando Pan said in an interview the corporate regulator had sent a letter to PSE, informing the exchange that its petition for a 45-day extension was granted.
The 45-day extension was granted after the 15-day timetable earlier given by the corporate regulator for the PSE to amend its plan expired on Dec. 14.
This means that PSE will have until the end of January 2016 to complete and submit the documents to SEC.
SEC sources said the corporate regulator decided to give PSE another 45 days to prove that it was not against the planned merger of the two exchanges.
“The SEC is not here to curtail the growth of the capital markets. We support this planned consolidation but we just want to see concrete plans of the PSE for the fixed-income exchange once its completes the buyout of other shareholders of PDS Holdings,” an SEC official said.
The deadline for the sale purchase agreement between PSE and PDS Holdings shareholders expired on Nov. 27, 2015, as the exchange failed to get an exemptive relief from SEC on the 20-percent ownership limit.
PSE offered to acquire majority stake in PDS Holdings based on an enterprise value of P2.25 billion.
Among PDS Holdings’ shareholders are Bankers Association of the Philippines, San Miguel Corp., Golden Astra, Singapore Stock Exchange, Tata Consultancy Serves Asia, Computershare Technology Services, The Philippine America Life and General Insurance Co., Financial Executive Institute of the Philippines, Social Security System and Investment House Association of the Philippines.