PLDT, Inc. said it continues to be in talks with KKR & Co., Inc. to resolve issues tied to the planned initial public offering of fintech firm Maya, because the telecom operator weighs whether to extend its stake or support a partial exit via listing, a call that would reshape ownership in one in all its key digital assets.
“An initial public offering (IPO) gives us the prospect to extend our stake,” PLDT Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan told reporters on the sidelines of the corporate’s stockholders’ meeting on Tuesday. “We’re in talks with KKR but there are just a few issues right away. We’re endorsing and supporting the IPO, we just need to overcome some issues.”
Mr. Pangilinan said PLDT continues to be evaluating its approach, including whether to lift its holding in Maya or proceed with a public listing structure that enables investor exit.
“Either way — a trade sale or an IPO — we’ll support. It relies on how much, it relies on what percentage,” he added.
Maya said in February it’s targeting an IPO within the second half, with plans to list first within the US before a Philippine Stock Exchange debut.
The listing is meant to lift capital and provides early investors an exit route while enabling PLDT to take care of exposure to the digital fintech business.
Maya’s shareholders include PLDT and First Pacific Co. Ltd., which together hold 39.6%, alongside KKR & Co. Inc., Tencent Holdings Ltd. and International Finance Corp.
PLDT posted a 1.77% decline in first-quarter attributable net income to P8.87 billion as higher expenses outweighed modest revenue growth.
Maya Innovations Holdings contributed P285 million to PLDT’s core earnings throughout the period.
Shares of PLDT Inc. closed P52 lower at P1,085 each.
Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Useful Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., holds a majority stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Ashley Erika O. Jose