Philippine conglomerate Ayala has sold shares in Globe Telecom to partner SingTel.

The group said it would use the sale proceeds for its business process outsourcing (BPO) and electronic manufacturing operations.

The company said it sold 3.8 million common shares of Globe to SingTel at P1,210 per share or a total of 4.6 billion pesos ($102.7 million).

With the sale, SingTel now owns 47.3% of Globe, up from 44.5% previously. The Ayala group reduced its stake to 33.5%, while the remaining 22% are in the public's hands.

Based on total voting shares, SingTel's stake rose to 21.5% from 20.2% previously.

SingTel is Asia's leading communication group with operations in Singapore and Australia, through wholly owned subsidiary SingTel Optus. Besides the Philippines, SingTel also has major telecommunications investments in Thailand, India, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Pakistan. It has around 185 million mobile subscribers, the largest multimarket customer base in Asia outside of China.

Ayala said it would invest the proceeds of the share sale in its BPO and electronic manufacturing service subsidiary, Integrated Microelectronics.

"Our value as a holding company lies in our ability to re-allocate and turn over capital in order to start new investment cycles," Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, the company's chairman said in a statement.

The Ayala group's sale of some of its shares in Globe comes amid uncertainties over IMI's planned initial public offering and listing, especially in light of the volatile financial markets. The electronics manufacturer posted a net income of $9.3 million for the first three months this year, up by 48% from last year.

Source:The Manila Times