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P15.5-BILLION DEAL
PCC approves merger between owners of Mapua University and Nat’l Teachers College
The Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) has approved the P15.5-billion merger between the owners and operators of Mapua University and National Teachers College, iPeople inc. (IPO) said Thursday.
In a regulatory filing submitted by IPO corporate information officer Ma. Esperanza Joven, the company said it received the PCC approval at 6:04 p.m. Wednesday, December 12.
Citing the PCC decision, iPeople said “the proposed merger between iPeople inc. and AC Education Inc. will not likely result in substantial lessening of competition.”
“The PCC resolved that it will take no further action with respect to the proposed merger,” it added.
Under the Philippine Competition Act, the PCC is mandated to review all business transactions valued at P2 billion and above to protect competition in the market and prohibit anticompetitive behavior.
Yuchengco-led IPO is the holding company which wholly owns and operates Malayan Education System Inc.—operating under the name of Mapua University.
Mapua University currently has its main campus in Intramuros, Manila, as well as an extension campus along Buendia Avenue in Makati City. It also has two wholly-owned operating schools—the Malayan Colleges Laguna and the Malayan High School of Science Inc.
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Meanwhile, AC Education counts as subsidiaries APEC Schools as well as the University of Nueva Caceres and the National Teachers College.
Post-merger, IPO will be the surviving entity and 51.3-percent controlled by parent House of Investments Inc., while AC Education will control 33.5 percent.
The merger is expected to yield a combined population of 40,000 students.
“Our belief is that the potential combination of iPeople and AC Education would create significant synergies that would enable us to better equip students for compelling futures,” Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, chairman and CEO of Ayala Corp., earlier said. —Jon Viktor Cabuenas/VDS, GMA News