CONVERGE ICT Solutions, Inc. Co-Founder and President Maria Grace Y. Uy is part of Forbes Asia’s 2021 Power Businesswomen list, which recognizes 20 outstanding female business leaders in the Asia-Pacific region.
Announced on Tuesday, Forbes Asia recognized Ms. Uy for her role in growing Converge “into one of the largest fixed broadband operators in the Philippines.”
“I have always lived with the principle that to be successful, you need to put in everything you’ve got and always work to do it better,” Ms. Uy told Forbes in a statement.
“And we still believe that we have just started,” she added.
Ms. Uy is a certified public accountant. She held senior executive positions in several companies, including IBM Philippines, prior to Converge, according to Forbes.
The businesswomen honored this year were selected for their accomplishments in managing either a business with sizable revenues or a startup valued at over $100 million, Forbes said in an e-mailed statement.
This year’s list recognizes businesswomen “who managed to adapt and thrive in industries including technology, healthcare, banking and manufacturing,” said Rana Wehbe Watson, editor of the 2021 Asia’s Power Businesswomen list.
“They are leading the way as the world struggles with the post-COVID reality,” she added.
Forbes noted that Ms. Uy led the negotiations for a $250-million investment from Warburg Pincus, a global growth investor, in 2019, which was used for the expansion of Converge’s fiber network.
Last year, Ms. Uy and her husband, Converge Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder Dennis Anthony H. Uy, raised $522 million in one of the Philippines’ “largest-ever” initial public offerings, Forbes said.
“Shares have since risen over 70%, pushing Converge’s market cap to 233 billion pesos ($4.6 billion),” it added.
Other businesswomen on the list include Thailand’s Wallapa Traisorat, president and chief executive officer of real estate company Asset World Corp.; Helen Wong, the first woman to helm the 89-year-old Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp.; South Korea’s Lee In-kyung who became a partner at MBK Partners (one of the largest homegrown buyout firms in Asia) last year; and Meena Ganesh who co-founded Portea Medical, India’s largest home healthcare company by revenue. — Arjay L. Balinbin