MVP sees deal with STAR within 'next few months'

Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said yesterday the group is hoping to close a deal to acquire a majority stake in The STAR Group of Publications within the “next few months.”

MediaQuest Holdings Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund, announced Thursday it was in discussions with the owners of The STAR Group, led by the Belmonte family, for a possible investment.

Pangilinan said they are looking to acquire more than 50 percent of The STAR, the country’s biggest print publishing group, for around P4 billion. “We have locked in the price. It’s in the range of P4 billion,” he said.

Aside from its flagship The Philippine STAR, the group also publishes leading tabloids Pilipino Star Ngayon and PM (Pang-Masa), Cebu-based The Freeman, Banat News, philstar.com.

Pangilinan said BusinessWorld, a business paper in which MediaQuest holds a 30 percent stake, is expected to benefit from the proposed deal if it pushes through.

 “I think BusinessWorld can take advantage of the Philippine Star’s strength in the areas of procurement, printing and distribution,” he said.

When asked whether the PLDT Group has plans of increasing its stake in BusinessWorld, Pangilinan said: “We haven’t thought of that. We’d like to focus on this one (referring to the Philippine STAR acquisition) first.”

Pangilinan said the group remains on the lookout for opportunities in the media industry. 

STAR editor-in-chief Isaac Belmonte, the eldest of the three Belmonte sons, said the potential partnership “ is in line with The STAR’s Group’s plan to go multi-media, which is the journalism trend worldwide.”

MediaQuest has interests in various media-related ventures, including a controlling stake in Nation Broadcasting Corp., which operates a network of radio stations; a minority stake in cable firm Central CATV; and a 30-percent stake in BusinessWorld.

MediaQuest also owns 360media Corp. (formerly GV Broadcasting System Inc.), which has a congressional franchise to provide broadcast services. 360media also has a direct-to-user license that allows it to broadcast via satellite or terrestrial wireless transmission.

If an agreement is reached, the Belmonte family, which controls the STAR Group, will continue managing the paper.

An analyst at a local brokerage house said it’s “a win-win situation for both parties” if the deal pushes through.

Owned and published by Philstar Daily Inc., the Philippine Star group was founded in 1986 by veteran journalists including Betty Go-Belmonte, Max Soliven, Art Borjal and Antonio Roces.