The PLDT Voyager unit receives $ 215 million in funding

Chinese firm Tencent Holdings, developer of WeChat, and global fund manager KKR closed Wednesday a $ 175 million investment in Voyager Innovations by PLDT Inc.

The agreement, whose funds would be used primarily to develop Voyager's platforms, including the PayMaya mobile wallet, was the largest ever investment in a local technology company.

"Traveling can now step up efforts to make its innovative financial and internet platforms more accessible to more Filipinos in more parts of the country," said PLDT President and CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan.

PLDT is also expected to seal an additional $ 40 million investment with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the World Bank's IFC Emerging Asia Fund. Pangilinan said the deal would be finalized on December 10th.

This will bring Voyager's total fundraising to $ 215 million.

Pangilinan told reporters that with the entry of Tencent, KKR and IFC, PLDT's involvement in Voyager would be reduced to about 48%. Annabelle Chua, LDP Finance Officer, said the PLDT itself would earn about $ 50 million from this investment, thanks to progress made early in the year.

The rest would be used by Voyager for business expansion in the Philippines.

"We believe that with investors such as KKR and Tencent in the lead, the profile of the Philippines as a destination for technology investments is on the rise," said Orlando B. Vea, President and CEO of Voyager Innovations.

In addition to PadMaya, Voyager's other platforms include Smart Padala, a mobile payment network, the Lendr and freenet online loan mechanism, a rewards application that allows users to access certain Internet sites at no charge.

Under the terms of the agreement, announced for the first time on October 4, Voyager will issue new shares to Tencent and KKR. This means that the bulk of the funds will go to expanding Voyager platforms.

Tencent and KKR will both take a minority stake in Voyager, with the PLDT still the largest shareholder. With the arrival of other investors such as IFC, PLDT expects its participation to fall below 50%, but will still remain the single largest shareholder. important to travel.

The Philippines, which has a large and relatively young population – a large proportion of which does not have access to the traditional banking system – is fertile ground for the global giants of financial technology to seek growth outside their market national.

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