RCBC completes share sale to Sumitomo Mitsui

RIZAL COMMERCIAL Banking Corp. (RCBC) has completed its sale of shares to Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. (SMBC) that will raise the latter’s stake in the lender.

RCBC said in a disclosure to the local bourse on Monday that it completed the sale of an additional 15.01% stake to SMBC.

SMBC’s stake in RCBC is now at 20% after it acquired a 4.999% stake in 2021.

The P27-billion capital infusion from the commercial banking arm of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group as a result of the transaction will boost its corporate, small and medium enterprises (SME), and retail segments, RCBC said.

“Through this partnership, RCBC will once again set the bar higher, adopting global best practices and customer-centric strategies, promoting disruptive banking solutions, and expediting our digital transformation,” RCBC President and Chief Executive Officer Eugene S. Acevedo said in a statement on Monday.

“Closer collaboration will open more business matching opportunities for RCBC’s local customer base and SMBC’s global network. Through this, RCBC and SMBC shall jointly establish a bridge for Philippine businesses and consumers to connect to international markets and vice-versa,” the bank added.

SMBC is the commercial banking arm of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and is one of the largest banks in the world with a presence in about 40 countries.

Meanwhile, RCBC is the fifth-largest private bank in the country with an asset base of P1.17 trillion as of end-June.

RCBC’s attributable net income surged by 69.92% to P3.638 billion in the first quarter amid an increase in its non-interest earnings.

Its shares climbed by P1.80 or 7.76% to close at P25 each on Monday. — AMCS