RCBC to sell minority stake to boost capital

RCBC is selling a minority stake worth about $100 million to an undisclosed investor as part of efforts to boost its capital.

The bank announced earlier this week it had sold a 7.2 percent stake to International Finance Corp, the World Bank's private sector arm, for about $50 million.

"This is to confirm that there are ongoing discussions which are not yet final," said Elbert Zosa, RCBC's corporate information officer.

The share sale, equivalent to a 14 percent stake, is part of a 6-6.5 billion peso Tier 1 capital raising plan that included the IFC investment, the report said, citing bank president Lorenzo Tan.

The bank said on Wednesday the IFC investment would increase its capital adequacy ratio to 18.5 percent from 17.8 percent, and its Tier 1 capital to 13.4 percent from 12.6 percent.

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