THE Philippine Stock Exchange Inc. (PSE) on Tuesday said it has purchased the 4-percent share of Philam in Philippine Dealing System Holdings Corp. (PDSHC).
In its disclosure, the PSE said it is buying some 250,000 shares being held by Philam on PDSHC.
“The purchase is subject to certain closing conditions, including the approval of government agencies, particularly the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Philippine Competition Commission, and compliance with the provisions in the articles of incorporation of PDSHC, among others,” the PSE said. The PSE now owns 57.0331 percent of PDSHC.
PDSHC owns the Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp., which operates the trading floor for fixed-income securities.
Previous to the deals, the PSE only owned 20.98 percent of PDSHC.
The PSE wants the majority control of PDSHC for it to merge the equities and the fixed-income trading floors, a move the PSE claims will “further deepen” the country’s capital markets that for decades were just trading instruments, like equity or bonds.
The SEC early last year thumbed down the proposed merger, prompting the PSE to go back to its drawing board and chart a new scheme in buying out the PDS.