Yuchengco's RCBC takes over Bankard

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., the banking arm of the Yuchengco group, has acquired majority control of credit card company Bankard Inc. from Equitable-PCI Bank for approximately P1.736 billion.

In separate disclosures to the Philippine Stock Exchange, officials of RCBC and Equitable-PCI said both parties have agreed to "enter into a contract relating to the sale of Equitable PCI's entire equity shareholdings in Bankard." Equitable owns 65.09 percent of the total outstanding shares of Bankard as of Dec. 31, 1999.

The disclosures were signed by Equitable PCI executive vice president and treasurer Romuald Dy Tang and RCBC EVP and corporate information officer Cesar Rubio.

Based on the sale agreement, the purchase price has been fixed at 1.925 times Bankard's book value as of end-1999. The other terms of the transaction, the officials said, "shall be finalized in the appropriate share purchase agreement."

Based on computations, the publicly listed credit card firm has a book value of P4.10 per share. At 1.925 times, the price per share amounts to P7.8925. Accordingly, this will translate to a total market capitalization of P2.668 billion for Bankard, out of which P1.736 billion or 65.09 percent represents the purchased block from Equitable PCI.

Bankard was the only gainer among the top 20 most active stocks in yesterday's lackluster trading. A total of 6.847 million shares changed hands valued at P28.78 million or just over two percent of aggregate trades. Its shares went up 90 centavos or 27 percent to close at P4.2 each, just slightly higher than its P4.1 book value.