MANILA, Philippines — The Ayala and Yuchengco Groups have obtained the approval of the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) for the the merger of their respective educational institutions AC Education and iPeople Inc.
Sources from the two groups confirmed that the PCC, the government’s anti-trust body already gave the greenlight to the merger.
“The proposed transaction will not likely result in substantial lessening of competition because there exist sufficient post-transaction competition constraint from other market participants in the identified relevant markets,” the PCC said in a decision early December.
The merger is touted as a marriage of two giants aimed at capturing the growing student market in the country through affordable, but quality education.
iPeople Inc., the education subsidiary of Yuchengco-owned House of Investments Inc. will be the surviving entity in the merger announced early this year.
The merger will bring together a population of over 40,000 students.
It would include iPeople and its significant subsidiary, Malayan Education System Inc., operating under the name Mapua University, a leading private engineering and technical university in the country and its subsidiaries, Malayan Colleges Laguna and Malayan Colleges Mindanao.
From the Ayala Group, the merger would cover Ayala Education and its subsidiaries, the University of Nueva Caceres in Bicol and APEC Schools, the largest stand-alone chain of private high schools in the country.
Officials from both the Yuchengco and Ayala Groups believe that Mapua’s reputation as a leading private engineering and technical university in the country, together with AC Education’s ability to provide quality education would enable the two conglomerates to jointly contribute to the improvement of the quality of education in the country.
Ayala Corp., currently led by brothers Jaime Augusto and Fernando Zobel de Ayala, is the oldest conglomerate in the country with businesses in banking, telecoms, property and water. In recent years, it also expanded into health, energy and education.
At the same time, it continues to strengthen its core businesses.
The Yuchengco Group, meanwhile, has businesses in banking, automotive, insurance and education, among others. It is led by Helen Yuchengco Dee, daughter of the group’s founding chairman, banking taipan and former ambassador, the late Alfonso Yuchengco.