ABS-CBN not for sale, says Lopez

MANILA, Philippines - ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp., the media conglomerate of the Lopez Group, is not for sale, its top official said yesterday.

Company chairman Eugenio Lopez III told The STAR that the rumored negotiations with Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) for a possible sale are simply not true.

“ABS-CBN will not be sold during my lifetime. We have received offers from a number of parties before but we are not interested to sell, “ Lopez emphasized.

The close business relations between the PLDT and Lopez groups, anchored on their partnership to preserve the Lopezes’ control in Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), have spawned rumors that PLDT, with its eyes cast on the media field, is negotiating to acquire a stake in the Lopez-controlled ABS-CBN.

PLDT chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan earlier said in an interview that the increasing cooperation between the two conglomerates has not been extended to the broadcast giant.

When asked about a possible buy-in by the PLDT Group into ABS-CBN, Pangilinan said in a text message to The STAR: “No, not true at all. There are no ongoing discussions with ABS-CBN with regard a possible investment.” Lopez said there is no need on the part of family holding firm Benpres to raise additional funds to pay off its debts and therefore sell some of its assets. “The sale of a portion of our stake in Meralco was already sufficient,” he added.

First Philippine Holdings Corp (FPHC) earlier sold a 20 percent stake in Meralco to the PLDT Group.

Benpres Holdings, through Lopez Inc., currently owns 57.24 percent of ABS-CBN. Lopez Inc. is a holding firm privately held by the four branches of the Lopez second generation siblings - Oscar and Manuel Lopez, Precy Lopez- Psinakis, and the heirs of the late Eugenio Lopez Jr., including ABS-CBN chairman Eugenio Lopez III.

Benpres earlier entered into a voting trust agreement with Lopez Inc. over its 254.12 million shares (43.08 percent) in Lopez-owned energy holding company FPHC “to protect legitimate creditors and shareholders of Benpres and FPHC against groups with hostile or inimical interests that would act against creating or furthering shareholder value.”

The ABS-CBN chairman said yesterday Benpres has also appointed Lopez Inc. as its voting trustee for its shares in the broadcast firm.

A voting trust is a trust whereby the shares in a company of one or more shareholders and the voting rights attached thereto are legally transferred to a trustee, usually for a specified period of time. In some voting trusts, the trustee may also be granted additional powers (such as to sell or redeem the shares).

Benpres, the other holding company of the family, is 55 percent owned by Lopez Inc. Last year, Benpres sold its stake in First Philippine Infrastructure Corp, which is engaged in the tollroad business, to PLDT officiate Metro Pacific Investment Corp., and its 18 percent stake in Professional Services, Inc., owner and operator of The Medical City. The proceeds of the sales —  worth over P6 billion and P600 million respectively — have supported the previous buy back program of Benpres’ debt. In 2007, the company was able to buy back $43 million in debt held by the Asia Infrastructure Fund at a 40 percent discount.

Benpres has announced that it is planning to dispose of its 24.5-percent stake in Rockwell Land Corp. (RLC) via the planned initial public offering (IPO) of the property developer. The timetable for the planned undertaking, however, is yet to be determined.

Pangilinan has remained interested in acquiring a television network. He, however told The STAR that there seems to be no room for a third network, when asked whether he will pursue a possible acquisition of government stations RPN 9 IBC 13.

The PLDT chairman was in talks years back with the owners of GMA Network Inc. for a possible buy-in but the negotiations fizzled out. To raise funds for its expansion, GMA Network instead opted to sell part of its shares to the public.

PLDT has been positioning itself towards quadruple play, which combines the triple play service of broadband Internet access, television, and telephone with wireless service provisions.

A broadcasting company can provide PLDT with much content that it can carry via a number of platforms. PLDT, through whollyowned subsidiary PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund which owns Mediaquest, earlier acquired a stake in newspaper company Business World. The company is also in talks for a possible interest in leading newspaper group Philippine STAR.

Its need for content has grown, especially with PLDT’s foray into the direct-to-home satellite business through Cignal, which is seen as a direct competitor of the cable television business where the Lopez Group’s Sky Cable is the market leader.