Author: Yantoultra Ngui
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Global investment firm KKR has appointed Goldman Sachs to sell its significant minority stake in Philippine fintech firm Maya, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
New York-based KKR owns more than 20% of Maya, and the potential sale, if successful, could value Maya at more than $2 billion, one of the sources said.
The sources declined to be named because it is a private matter.
Maya said she could not comment and referred Reuters’ request to KKR.
KKR and Goldman declined to comment.
Maya is an all-in-one money app that offers digital payment and banking services including bill payments, remittances, savings, investments and cryptocurrencies. Its Maya Bank is the top digital bank in the Philippines with a customer base of 5.4 million.
Maya’s last significant fundraising round was in April 2022 when it raised $210 million to fund its venture into digital banking and other services like cryptocurrencies and micro-investing, valuing the company at $1.4 billion.
KKR invested in Maya, formerly known as Voyager Innovations, in October 2018 when KKR and Tencent Holdings (OTC: ) separately subscribed new shares worth a total of up to $175 million.
The investment marked KKR’s first private equity investment in the Philippines and came as part of its strategy to invest in high-growth markets fueled by rapid increases in technology adoption.
Maya closed 2024 with 39 billion Philippine pesos ($665.87 million) in deposits and 68 billion pesos in disbursed loans in one year.
As of 2022, the digital bank has disbursed a total of 92 billion pesos in loans.
(1 USD = 1.3665 Singapore dollars)
(1 USD = 58.5700 Philippine pesos)
