FMIC completes sale of FAMI stake

FIRST METRO Investment Corp. (FMIC), the investment banking arm of listed Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. (Metrobank), has signed the deed of sale for its controlling stake in First Metro Asset Management, Inc. (FAMI) to the ATR Asset Management Group (ATRAM Group).

“Please be informed that First Metro executed today a Deed of Absolute Sale with ATR Financial Holdings, Inc., following MET Holdings, Inc.’s execution of an Accession Agreement transferring its rights to ATR Financial Holdings, Inc.,” the company said in a disclosure to the local bourse on Wednesday.

The accession agreement allows the entrance of a new party into an existing contract.

On Oct. 30, FMIC’s board of directors approved the sale and signed a share purchase agreement for its 70% stake in FAMI with MET Holdings of the ATRAM Group.

Before the transfer of rights, the transaction involved the sale of FMIC’s 1,050,000 common shares representing 70% of the issued and outstanding capital stock of FAMI to a consortium made up of the ATRAM Group, led by its parent firm ATRAM Investment Management Partners Corp., and MET Holdings.

FMIC has said the sale of its majority stake in its asset management arm is “part of its strategy to focus on the investment banking business.”

FAMI is the principal distributor, administrator and fund manager of First Metro Philippine Equity Exchange-Traded Fund, Inc. and FMIC’s mutual funds.

It was founded in 2005 by FMIC as a joint venture with the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines and Marist Brothers Congregation Philippines, Inc.

Meanwhile, the ATRAM Group operates through ATRAM Trust and ATR Asset Management, Inc., managing portfolios made up of mutual funds, trust assets, insurance portfolios, and real estate for its clients. It had assets under management of over P385 billion at end-September.

Metrobank’s attributable net income rose by 11.35% to P12.124 billion in the third quarter, bringing its nine-month net profit to P35.729 billion, up by 12.4% year on year.

Its shares went up by P1.20 or 1.63% to close at P75 each on Wednesday. — A.M.C. Sy