Philippines medium sized United Coconut Planters Bank has attracted 12 investors – foreign and local – for having a controlling stake in the bank. Japan’s No 1 bank by assets Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group is one among them. A spokesperson for the government’s department of finance’s privatisation and management office said some are listed companies, so they may need to complete their own internal process in order to finalize their own disclosures and their decision whether to bid. The government is preparing to auction a controlling stake in the bank as part of plans to recapitalize the mid-sized lender, which has more than 200 branches and assets worth nearly 260 billion pesos as of end 2014.
