Globe Telecom Inc. yesterday approved the signing of a P501-million deal to buy back the 51 percent stake of technology firm Yondu Inc. from Xurpas Inc.
In a statement, Globe said its board of director approved the acquisition of Yondu equivalent to 22,950 shares for P501 million from Xurpas, and the signing of the corresponding deed of sale of shares and other related definitive agreements.
“Bringing Yondu into the Globe value chain will promote synergies and strengthen the position of our enterprise business. We believe in Yondu’s growth prospects as we leverage on its capabilities in a robust IT industry,” said Ernest Cu, Globe president and chief executive officer.
The transaction will bring back Globe’s ownership of Yondu to 100 percent.
In September 2015, Xurpas bought 51 percent of Yondu from Globe for P900 million.
Meanwhile, Globe said its prepaid mobile data rates are the second lowest in Southeast Asia and selected Asia Pacific countries including China and India.
Compared with other countries in the region, the mobile internet price per gigabyte (GB) of Globe of $0.43 (P22.50) is way below Singapore’s $3.20 (P168.42), Thailand’s $1.84 (P96.84), China’s average rate of $1.31 (P68.95), Malaysia’s $0.53 (P28.07) and Indonesia’s $1.33 (P70) per GB.
Overall, the Philippines is second only to India which has $0.23 or P12.04, currently the cheapest rate in the region.