Aboitiz acquires 51% stake in local remittance firm PETNET
Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc. (AEV) has acquired a 51% stake in PETNET, Inc. (PETNET), a Philippine money remittance business with a national footprint of around 2,500 locations through a mix of own units and business partner agreements. AEV’s acquisition is through the purchase of existing issued shares and subscription to unissued shares.
“We are excited about this acquisition for several reasons. PETNET has a large growth and development potential with the continued increase in remittances from OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) and with a large opportunity to distribute complementary products through an extensive network of outlets. AEV, as new majority owner, can add significant value and boost this development even further,” said Erramon I. Aboitiz, AEV President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
Remittances constituted around 8% of the Philippine gross domestic product last year and have grown by around 7% per year for the past couple of years. The inflow of money remittances has shown resilience to temporary market slowdowns.
“The market for money transfers is a very fragmented market and we see that AEV can add value in PETNET’s strategy to grow and potentially consolidate the market organically. We are also open to potential add-on acquisitions, should it fit strategically,” Aboitiz added.
With AEV’s 51% ownership interest, PETNET will continue as a stand-alone business within the Aboitiz Group with the current management team in place, as well as all the existing shareholders staying with a 49% ownership.
“It is our intention to act as a very active owner from a board level perspective, but PETNET will continue to be a self-driven unit,” Aboitiz noted.
Meanwhile, PETNET CEO Larry Ocampo said, “We are excited to have Aboitiz as a strong and supportive new majority owner. PETNET has reached a growth stage where it needs to take some big steps both internally and externally, and we think that AEV is the right active owner to support this development Personally, I look forward to the opportunity to take the company through this next growth journey in partnership with AEV.”
