PLDT to focus on growing business with Rocket Internet

MANILA, Philippines–Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. said it was unlikely to invest in another technology company in the near term after buying a stake in Germany’s Rocket Internet, which went public recently.

PLDT chair Manuel V. Pangilinan said the focus now would be on launching a platform using the services of Rocket Internet companies and PLDT’s electronic wallet provider, Smart Money.

“We are focused on that investment in Rocket Internet,” Pangilinan told reporters in a recent briefing.

He said Rocket was planning to launch a platform that would work with Rocket Internet companies like Zalora, EasyTaxi and FoodPanda before the end of 2014.

PLDT announced an investment in Rocket Internet last August, during which it acquired an initial 10 percent stake for 333 million euros. Its stake has since dropped to 6.6 percent, Rocket Internet’s website showed, but the company’s current valuation has increased the value of PLDT’s investment.

Rocket Internet, which reported 700 million euros in revenue last year but no profit, replicates successful e-commerce businesses in emerging markets outside the United States and China.

“We are enabling consumers that have no cards or bank accounts to participate online,” said Smart chief wireless adviser Orlando Vea in the same press conference.

Smart’s mobile money system handled transactions worth about 3.4 billion euros in 2013, double the figure in 2012. Vea said in a previous interview the company was expecting a similar increase for this year.

Rocket Internet’s presence in the region and the Philippines includes includes Lazada, an Internet-based retailer of consumer goods and Zalora, an online fashion retailer. The retailers compete with other websites by offering exclusive discounts to buyers.

Rocket Internet earlier listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Its offering was aimed at raising at least 1.4 billion euros before the exercise of any greenshoe option.

The company, controlled by CEO and founder Oliver Samwer and his brothers, intends to spend the proceeds of the offering on launching new companies and investing in existing concept companies, a previous statement showed.

In addition, the company plans to invest in some of its younger companies, with a view of building and maintaining majority ownership positions in these selected companies over the longer term.–Miguel R. Camus

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