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OUR TEAM

Combined 110+ years of experience in investment banking, corporate banking, and M&A advisory in the Philippines and in the region

Member Name

Manuel R. Salak III ("Manolet")

Managing Director

Manolet has more than 30 years of investment banking and M&A advisory experience. He was a former Senior Strategic Advisor to ING Bank Philippines. He was also the former Head of Clients and Corporate Finance of ING Bank Asia covering 14 countries, and former Country Manager of ING Bank Philippines. He has led all of AP’s advisory engagements to date including Udenna’s acquisition of Conti’s, Macay’s acquisition of Kitchen City, AC Energy’s sale of 17.5% stake to GIC, and Meralco’s acquisition of 86% of GBPC. He also oversaw all of ING’s M&A advisory engagements for the last 23 years including landmark transactions such as AC Energy’s sale of a strategic stake in AA Thermal to Aboitiz Power, the bancassurance partner search for BPI/Security Bank/UnionBank, the PLDT-Digitel merger, the PNB-Allied merger, the PNOC EDC privatization, TEPCO/ Marubeni’s acquisition of Mirant, the BDO-EPCI merger, and the sale of PNB/Solid Bank/PCI Bank.

Member Name

Natividad N. Alejo ("Nabbie")

Managing Director

Nabbie has more than 30 years of banking experience and is the head of BPI’s retail banking business including as President and CEO of BPI Family Savings Bank. She was also the former Chairman of BPI Direct Banko (microfinance arm of BPI). She was President of BPI Capital and BPI Securities from 2001-2007 and IHAP from 2004-2006, as well as the M&A Head for BPI’s principal investments in bank acquisitions (including Family Bank, Far East Bank, Citytrust, DBS Bank Philippines, Prudential Bank, and Ayala Insurance companies) and industrial investments (including Mabuhay Vinyl, Aichi Forge, and Philippine Resins). She also advised Gaisano Group on the acquisition of Danao City Development Bank (now Wealth Bank) and BPI on the sale of Far East Savings Bank (now Sterling Bank) to the Tiu Group.

Member Name

Edgardo T. Tantoco (“Tommy”)

Managing Director - Debt Advisory

Tommy has more than 25 years of banking experience and used to be the Head of Corporate Banking of East West Bank. He is a Managing Director and Senior Transactor for AlphaPrimus Debt Advisory group and is currently advising on various liability management exercises for a conglomerate involved in shipping, logistics and oil. Concurrently, Tommy also sits on the various boards of the Pontefino Group, a real estate development group with properties in Batangas City and Cagayan de Oro, where he also is the EVP and Group CFO, and the President of one of its companies, Fino Land, Inc. He was the Financial Advisor in the corporate rehabilitation of the LKG/Interco Group which had total debt of over PhP 7.0B in 2010, and he also arranged loans of PhP1.2B for the PSE-listed Philippine Realty Corporation when it exited corporate rehabilitation in 2017. He previously held senior positions at Filinvest Capital and Bank of the Philippine Islands. He also worked with the Philippine American Life Insurance Company and the American International Group in New York. Tommy had managed the financial requirements of various conglomerates, major businesses and multinational accounts such as Filinvest, Ayala, Gokongwei, Yuchengco, Araneta, Del Monte, Yazaki-Torres, Procter & Gamble, DMCI, PLDT, National Bookstore and Rustans. He has a Bachelor of Science in Business Management (BSBM) degree (1980) from the Ateneo de Manila University and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) degree (1983) from the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, which included one semester of international business studies at the London Business School in London, England.

Member Name

Jose Gabino De Leon Dimayuga (“Jobi”)

Managing Director - Debt Advisory

Jobi has more than 30 years of experience in the financial services industry primarily focused on corporate lending and project finance. Prior to retirement, he headed the Development Lending Sector of the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) where he had overall responsibility for all lending products (other than salary and back-to-back loans) within the bank. Previous to that he also headed the Treasury and Corporate Finance Sector with oversight on the Investment Banking, Capital Markets and Treasury businesses of the bank. Before joining DBP he held various senior positions at the Manila branch of Dutch banking giant ING Bank N.V., the regional office of Citicorp International Limited in Hong Kong, and the Manila branch of Citibank N.A. Jobi started his professional life in the public sector. Shortly after graduation, he joined the National Housing Authority and immediately after the EDSA revolution, the then newly formed International Finance Group of the Department of Finance (IFG-DOF). At the IFG-DOF he was part of the team that was responsible for negotiating with our official development and commercial bank creditors in order to secure new loans and grants and/or restructure our existing debts with them. Before leaving the same in 1991, he held the sub-cabinet rank of Assistant Secretary.

Member Name

Luis Enrique Mangosing (“Eric”)

Managing Director

Eric has been involved in corporate real estate, property development and general management for over thirty years. His areas of specialization include real estate asset and investment management, real estate project packaging, property acquisition and disposal, project development and management, property and facilities management, as well as general management, business operations and administration. He has been involved in all major sectors of the real estate industry, including but not limited to horizontal and vertical residential, office-commercial, hospitality, and industrial sectors. Eric has had extensive experience in all aspects of the real estate development industry including roles as President and Chief Operating Officer of MySpace Properties/Excelsior Holdings, Moldex Realty, SVP for BDO Properties, and GM of Landev Corporation, the property group of the Yuchengco Group. Eric also served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Philam Properties Corporation - the real estate arm of the Philam Life Group of Companies and a member of the AIG Global Real Estate team. He has also led various advisory engagements in a senior level for residential subdivision and mixed-use developments of Regatta Properties and Pueblo de Oro Development Corporation, and San Miguel Properties Philippines.

Member Name

Calvin F. Chua ("Calvin")

Executive Director

Calvin has more than 18 years of investment banking and M&A advisory experience and is concurrently the Chief Financial Adviser to Fruitas Holdings. He was a former Consultant to the Corporate Finance team of ING Bank Philippines, where he was previously a Director responsible for the origination and execution of Philippine-based advisory engagements. He has worked across several sectors and played a key role in several notable deals including the Vista Land-Starmalls consolidation, the PNB-Allied Bank merger, and the bancassurance partner search for BPI, Security Bank, and UnionBank. He had also advised on the sale of an interest in Sky Cable to STT, Sky Cable’s acquisition of Destiny Cable, and sale of an interest in ABS-CBN to the Capital Group.

Member Name

Albert P. Lagtapon ("Albert")

Executive Director

Albert has more than 15 years of investment banking and M&A advisory experience. He was formerly a Consultant and prior to that a Director in the Corporate Finance team of ING Bank. His experience includes the successful execution of close to 30 transactions with an aggregate deal value of more than USD18 bn, including Meralco’s acquisition of 86% in GBPC, AC Energy’s sale of a 17.5% stake to GIC, the Udenna Group’s acquisition of Conti’s, AC Energy’s sale of a strategic stake in AA Thermal to Aboitiz Power, San Miguel’s restructuring of its food and beverage business, the PNOC-EDC privatization, and TEPCO/Marubeni’s acquisition of Mirant Philippines.

Member Name

Edmund M. Solilapsi ("Edmund")

Director

Edmund has more than 10 years of experience in M&A advisory and investments and was a former Associate in the Corporate Finance team of ING Bank Philippines as well as a former Consultant to TAEL Partners, a Southeast Asia PE fund. He has worked on a number of investment/advisory transactions involving Philippine corporates/SMEs in the food and agriculture, consumer, FI, and media sectors. He had advised on the sale of an economic interest in Sky Cable to STT, Sky Cable’s acquisition of Destiny Cable, sale of an economic interest in ABS-CBN to the Capital Group, and the sale of ING’s asset management business of ING to BPI.

Member Name

Kim Aldous Oliver B. Rañosa ("Kim")

Assistant Vice President

Kim has a decade of experience in mergers & acquistions, financial due diligence, valuation, financial modelling, sell-side, and strategic advisory. Prior to joining AP, he was a Manager in KPMG Philippines where he led the execution of corporate finance and due diligence engagements. His industry experience covers financial services, healthcare, insurance, real estate, power & utilities, shipping & logistics, mining, business process outsourcing, manufacturing, gaming, retail, advertising, and micro-finance. He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).

Member Name

Renzie Doem R. Agutaya ("Renzie")

Senior Analyst

Renzie has more than 13 years of experience in financial modeling in valuation. He worked in two (2) of the Big 4 accounting firms in the Philippines for seven (7) years, where he handled engagements with the top local and international clients in various industries but primarily specialized in real estate, power, and financial institutions. He has extensive experience in conducting financial and commercial due diligence, risk advisory, and accounting advisory services. He is a former Deal Advisory Manager in Deloitte Philippines. He is a Certified Public Accountant, Certified Advanced Financial Modeler (FMI Institute), and holds an MBA.

Member Name

John Borja ("Borj")

Senior Analyst

John has more than 5 years experience in investment banking across Mergers & Acquisitions, Debt Capital Markets, and Equity Capital Markets. He is a former Mergers & Acquisitions Associate at BPI Capital Corporation, where he supported origination and execution of M&A deals. His experience includes valuation, origination, and execution of deals ranging from domestic bond issuances to cross-border M&A advisory across sectors such as infrastructure, insurance, oil & gas, logistics, power, and real estate.

Member Name

Brian C. Bacungan ("Brian")

Senior Analyst

Brian has over 10 years of experience in corporate finance. He is concurrently Treasurer of the Pontefino Group, with interests in restaurants and hospitality, where he has risen through the ranks in parallel with the Group’s growth and pivot to property development. He has also advised listed companies on their successful debt management and fundraising efforts.

Member Name

Colleen Gatchalian ("Colleen")

Analyst

Colleen has 4 years of experience in investment banking and sell-side equity research, and was particularly exposed to the consumer retail and restaurant sectors. She previously worked at BPI Securities Corporation, where she conducted research on Philippine equity strategy and marketed investment ideas to both institutional and retail clients. She also has experience conducting pre-deal investment research for equity capital market deals, including the initial public offering of Monde Nissin Corporation.

Member Name

Miguel Augustine P. Biacora ("Miguel")

Analyst

Miguel has more than two years of professional experience in mergers and acquisitions, spanning across industries such as real estate, banking, food and beverage, logistics, among others. He previously worked at the Financial Advisory department at Deloitte Philippines, where he executed financial due diligence, agreed-upon procedures, and corporate finance. His experiences also include financial analysis on international deals, such as Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation's acquisition of Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation.