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World Bank arm backs Asialink Finance with $130-million loan

Business | Banking & Finance

World Bank arm backs Asialink Finance with $130-million loan

By Ben Arnold de Vera

The International Finance Corp. (IFC) has green-lit a loan package for Filipino firm Asialink Finance Corp. (AFC) to help boost small business lending in the Philippines.

The private-sector lending arm of the World Bank Group (WBG) disclosed on Friday, Oct. 11, that the senior loan financing package of as much as $130 million for Metro Manila-based AFC got approved by the IFC board last Oct. 9.

The next step would be loan signing between the IFC and AFC before this financing takes effect.

As Manila Bulletin earlier reported, the four-year senior loan financing package of over P7.4 billion would include $100 million from the IFC's own account, on top of mobilizing the remaining $30 million from B1 loan participants and parallel lenders.

The IFC would likewise provide a cross-currency swap so that AFC could hedge currency and interest rate risks from this investment.

In turn, all of the IFC's investment in AFC would finance loans for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), especially women-led and -owned businesses, in the country.

AFC's parent-company Asialink Group, which also includes Global Dominion Financing Inc. (GDFI) and South Asialink Finance Corp. (SAFC), has more than 362 branches nationwide.

Early this year, Asia-based private equity fund Creador invested equity in Asialink Group and acquired an 18-percent stake in AFC. At present, founder Ruben Y. Lugtu II and his family own 70 percent of AFC, while the remaining 12 percent belongs to its chief executive officer (CEO) and co-founder Robert B. Jordan Jr.

Related Tags

International Finance Corporation Asialink Finance Corp. IFC World Bank

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