Meralco offloads Bayad stake to Kayana

Manila Electric Company (Meralco) is exiting payment platform Bayad, giving greater control to Kayana Solutions, Inc. as it pares down its exposure to the fintech space.

The company said in a disclosure on Monday that together with its wholly owned subsidiary, Corporate Information Solutions, Inc. (CIS), it agreed to sell their respective share interest in CIS Bayad Center, Inc. (Bayad) to Kayana. 

The completion of the transaction is subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions precedent.

The exit marks a shift for Meralco away from direct exposure to Bayad, a provider of payment collection services offering a suite of financial products and services through its physical and digital payment touchpoints. 

Bayad is currently owned by CIS, Kayana, and Meralco with equity interests of 85 percent, 10 percent, and 5 percent, respectively.

Kayana, which is acquiring the stakes, is an electronic payment and reward system company backed by PLDT Inc., Meralco, and Metro Pacific Investments Corp., with equity interests of 45 percent, 27.5 percent, and 27.5 percent, respectively.

Early this year, the PLDT board approved the subscription of 1.215 billion additional common shares in Kayana.

Kayana is a data-powered digital experience company that leverages the group’s vast data assets to deliver hyper-personalized customer experiences and actionable insights.