PHINMA Corp. plans to step up its expansion plans after acquiring a majority stake in the subsidiaries of its parent firm, an official of the listed holding firm said.

“This was part of our one Phinma objective where we are trying to consolidate the ownership of the operating companies of the group from Phinma, Inc. in our listed entity,” Deputy Group Chief Financial Officer Edmund Alan A. Qua Hiansen told BusinessWorld on the sidelines of a company event last Wednesday.

Mr. Qua Hiansen added that the acquisition would provide the subsidiaries with a platform to raise funds to grow their businesses.

“We are very optimistic about the future of all our core business units,” he said. “The Phinma Group is in a growth trajectory right now. Consolidating the investments is one thing; the next step is to continue our growth.”

In a previous disclosure, the company said it had signed the deed of absolute sale for five of the subsidiaries for a total of P2.34 billion.

The company acquired the 8% additional stake in Phinma Education Holdings, Inc. for P1.06 billion. The education unit currently has about 10 schools within its portfolio. The acquisition resulted in 75.2% ownership of the unit.

Phinma also purchased 36.7% of Phinma Property Holdings Corp. for P588.88 million. It now owns 86.3% of the property development subsidiary.

The company likewise bought shares in Phinma Hospitality, Inc. and Phinma Microtel Hotels for P251.24 million and P21.19 million, respectively. The companies are the management and master franchisor of the group’s Microtel and TRYP hotels.

After the acquisition, Phinma now owns 63.8% of Phinma Hospitality and 51% of Phinma Microtel.

Additionally, the company also acquired 63.47% of ABCIC Property Holdings, Inc. for P409.39 million. The purchase resulted in Phinma owning about 90% of the subsidiary.

Mr. Qua Hiansen said that the company, through its property unit, will venture into township development, starting with around 20 hectares in Western Visayas.

He added that the company is set to invest up to P420 million and will be targeting the low to middle housing market segments.

Phinma intends to put up a hotel in its proposed township projects via the Microtel and TRYP hotel brands, he said, “and if the location is right maybe including the education business as well.”

“We are looking at more townships… but we are really focused on areas outside of Metro Manila and growing urban communities,” he said.

“What we want to do is to provide it where [there] is not enough supply and there is still demand for people who want to live in a township,” he added.

Additionally, Mr. Qua Hiansen said Phinma is eyeing to start development for its insulated panel facility in Pampanga next year.

“We are in discussions with a foreign joint venture partner, who we think is world-class in these facilities so they can share the technical knowledge with us,” he added.

The company said earlier that it plans to spend around P500 million to construct a new facility. It also aims to produce approximately one million square meters of insulated paneling materials every year.

Meanwhile, Mr. Qua Hiansen said that the company is optimistic about the growth outlook of its businesses.

“There are exciting prospects that we continue to evaluate as we make these investments, we believe that they should be value accretive to the group,” he added. — Adrian H. Halili

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