Greenergy Holdings Inc., the listed holding company of businessman Antonio Tiu, has sealed its investment in ABS-CBN's fintech company U-Pay Digital Technologies Inc.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the firms said it has completed its move to acquire 51 million shares of stock of U-Pay from broadcasting giant ABS-CBN, paving the way for Greenergy to own 51 percent of the fintech company.
Greenergy paid P54 million or P51 million for the shares and an additional consideration of P3 million for fees and charges due on U-Pay's governmental permits and licenses.
The acquisition of U-Pay strengthens Greenergy's foray into the fintech space and is part of its overall pivot toward digital transformation that would enable its stakeholders and consumers to benefit from a financially inclusive ecosystem.
Greenergy earlier signed an agreement with ABS-CBN and iBayad Online Ventures Inc. for the acquisition of 51 million fully paid common shares of U-Pay, which is an e-money issuer and remittance company duly licensed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
U-Pay is a fintech company engaged in the business of customer and merchant e-wallet/e-money services and other related services, operating a platform therefor, as well as advertising, producing, distributing, and marketing products and services that are connected to the operations of said business.
It has a Type “C” E-Money Issuer license issued by BSP and duly registered to operate as a Remittance and Transfer Company.
Aside from its fintech platform, U-Pay is also engaged in advertising, producing, distributing, and marketing products and services connected to the operations of its business.
The closing date of the transaction shall be subject to the completion of certain conditions precedent to closing, including clearance from the BSP which shall not be later than September 30, 2021.
Greenergy also earlier partnered with DITO Telecommunity paving the way for Greenergy's existing clients, partners and affiliates to become DITO mobile subscribers.
Furthermore, the parties agreed to collaborate in other areas through co marketing efforts to support the expansion of DITO’s client base.
The partnership with Uy's DITO Telecommunity is part of Greenergy's vision to build a digital ecosystem for the agricultural sector under vision #GREEN2030.
Through these efforts of digitalizing the agri sector, more Filipino consumers would attain financial inclusion, widening the net on the unbanked and underbanked sectors of society as they would make use of virtual accounts and cross border remittance services.
Greenergy has been constantly evolving as a business. Tiu announced recently that he was converting Greenergy into a holding firm to own his various ventures including Agrinurture, Inc. (ANI), his agro-commercial business.