PhilWeb completes US$15m treasury share sale to JKS Tech

The latest transfer brings PhilWeb’s treasury shareholding down to 146 shares and increases its outstanding shares to 1.68 billion.

The Philippines.- PhilWeb Corporation has completed a sale of treasury common shares to JKS Tech Solutions Inc. for PHP1.01bn (US$15.9m). In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) filed on November 3, it confirmed that JKS acquired a second tranche of 61,035,593 shares on October 30 at PHP16.50 each, completing an agreed transfer of 81,380,792 treasury shares.

The agreement, announced in September, carried a total consideration of PHP1.34bn (US$21.2m). PhilWeb transferred the first 20,345,199 shares on September 15 through a PSE block sale that generated PHP335.70m (US$5.3m).

Following the latest transaction, PhilWeb’s treasury shares decreased from 61,035,739 to 146, while its outstanding shares increased from 1,615,652,621 to 1,676,688,214. The shares acquired by JKS represent approximately 4.85 per cent of PhilWeb’s issued and outstanding shares.

The treasury share sale forms part of an arrangement under which PhilWeb is also acquiring a 30 per cent strategic stake in JKS. In September, PhilWeb confirmed that it and its wholly owned subsidiary, PhilWeb Capital Corporation (PCC), had signed separate agreements to subscribe for a combined 10,726,075 new Common B shares in JKS at PHP394 (US$6.22) each. Proceeds from the treasury share disposal are expected to contribute towards the funding subscription.

PhilWeb said the investment would expand its exposure to the B2B technology and digital infrastructure market, particularly among licensed mid-market operators. It also pointed to potential uses of JKS’s backend infrastructure in compliance monitoring, risk management, fraud detection and platform oversight.