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Over the last 3 years
MANILA, Philippines — Mitsubishi Corp.’s P44.5-billion investment in Ayala Corp. has brought the recent wave of foreign direct investments (FDI) secured by the group to nearly P100 billion, underscoring the conglomerate’s ability to attract global capital.
Over the past three years, the country’s oldest conglomerate has attracted P96.5 billion in foreign capital infusion, including Mitsubishi’s latest investment announced last week.
Mitsubishi, Japan’s largest sogo shosha or trading company, is raising its stake in Ayala to 15 percent from 4.7 percent and its voting stake to 20 percent.
In 2024, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and MUFG Bank invested P22.4 billion in Mynt, the parent company of e-wallet giant GCash, as part of a strategy to back leading digital financial services platforms across Asia and expand presence in one of the region’s fastest-growing fintech markets.
Ayala also sold its 50-percent stake in AC Ventures Holding Corp. to Mitsubishi for P19 billion in the same year. ACV held an approximately 13-percent stake in Mynt.
From 2024 to 2026, the Ayala Group also secured strategic investments and partnerships worth P10.6 billion from leading international companies, including Denmark’s A.P. Moller Capital, Singapore’s ABC Impact, Thailand’s CP AXTRA, UAE’s Al Seer Group and Wesfarmers’ Kmart Group of Australia.
These partnerships span logistics, health care, food retail, supermarket operations and consumer retail, supporting Ayala’s efforts to bring global expertise, capital and leading brands to the Philippines while expanding access to essential products and services for Filipino consumers and businesses.
In total, that’s an investment haul of P96.5 billion in just over a three-year period.
Ayala president and CEO Cezar Consing said these partnerships are both exciting and energizing, as it provides them the ability to learn from one another.
“Think of who they are. They’re all very top-tier, high-quality names,” Consing told The STAR. “If they’re quality partners, they’ll make you better.”
The Mitsubishi transaction, Ayala chief social infrastructure officer Paolo Borromeo added, is a big one.
“We always have prided ourselves in being top of mind in terms of partners for foreign groups looking in the Philippines. So it’s natural I think for the banks, the brokers to always introduce them to us, especially if it is a good fit,” Borromeo told The STAR.
Seeing is believing
The story behind Mitsubishi’s latest investment in Ayala dates back to their cooperation in Mynt, which Consing said served as a spark in what he referred to as a 52-year-old marriage between the two conglomerates.
“First, we did Mynt about a year and a half ago together. Prior to that, Mitsubishi had sold down. We were talking to Mitsubishi and saying, we know you’ve sold down from the parent, but let’s look at ways we could do stuff together at the operating company,” Consing said.
After the Mynt deal, the partners agreed to push more opportunities together.
“And so we were talking, and we were thinking already about seeing if we could attract Mitsubishi to do more with our operating companies, or to do more with us at the parent,” Consing added.
Consing said what really made a difference was when Mitsubishi Corp. president Katsuya Nakanishi decided to visit the Philippines early this year.
“We had asked him to come to the Philippines because we were telling him, ‘you have to see it.’ You have to get an idea,” Consing said.
“I was telling him when I was in Japan, come to Manila. Because then if you see the developments here, you’ll realize what Ayala has done. You’ll realize what we can do together. But you have to see it,” he said.
Meeting BBM
Consing, together with Ayala chairman Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, accompanied Nakanishi and other Mitsubishi executives to meet President Marcos in Malacañang last February.
After the meeting in Malacañang, they went off to lunch.
And then Nakanishi’s team called Consing and asked to meet.
“Can Nakanishi see you at 3 o’clock?”
“So he comes into my office, sits down in the chair in front of me and says:
“’Okay, Bong. Seeing is believing. Let’s do something together.’”
And the rest, as they say, is history.
Consing said that was when both parties agreed they would do something together, paving the way for the approximately $700-million or P44.5 billion transaction which serves as country’s largest FDI so far this year.
No choice but to succeed
Mitsubishi’s investment, which cements its role as one of Ayala’s largest long-term strategic shareholders, is seen as a show of support both for the company and the Philippines.
The deeper partnership between the two giants is expected to lead to more joint projects in segments such as real estate, energy, fintech, mobility, logistics and artificial intelligence.
Ayala will receive approximately P20 billion in proceeds, which will be used to further strengthen its balance sheet through debt reduction, continue its share purchase program covering the shares of the company and its listed subsidiaries, as well as support future growth initiatives.
Consing said about half of the P20 billion would likely be spent on debt reduction, with the other half would be used to buy back shares, mostly of real estate unit Ayala Land Inc.”
Ayala will also conduct a voluntary tender offer for up to approximately 30 million common shares as part of the transaction, on behalf of Mitsubishi.
The tender offer would provide public shareholders with an opportunity to participate in the transaction and realize value at the same P650 per share price agreed with Mitsubishi.
Ayala is currently waiting for the approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission and is targeting to conduct the tender offer before the end of the year.
Philippines as investment destination
Consing said Mitsubishi deciding to raise its investment in Ayala also reflects the group’s confidence in the Philippines as an investment destination.
“That’s really the story. An outsider looking at us more clinically is seeing an opportunity in the group and in the country that we ourselves may not be seeing,” Consing said.
“Also, we have something that 90 percent of the countries in the world would kill for. We have enviable demographics,” he added.
With Mitsubishi making a big bet on the company and the country, Consing said Ayala has no choice but to succeed.
It won’t be a walk in the park but Consing said Ayala is up for the challenge.
Backed by global partners, the country’s oldest conglomerate looks set to go from strength to strength.
