Liberty Telecoms restructures debt

MANILA, Philippines - Liberty Telecoms Holdings Inc. is restructuring P880 million worth of debt through the issuance of preferred shares to major shareholders of the telecom provider.

Liberty Holdings corporate information officer Catherine Laurel-Carpio informed the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) that the company’s Board of Directors authorized the issuance of unissued shares of unlisted preferred shares to existing shareholders.

Laurel-Carpio said 431.2 million preferred shares would be issued to Vega Telecoms Inc., 287.32 million to Qtel West Holdings SPC, and 161.48 million to White Dawn Solution Holdings Inc. at an issue price of P1 per share.

Last June, SMC’s Vega Telecom Inc. and QTEL’s Qtel West Bay Holdings S.P.C. increased their stake in Liberty Telecoms with the issuance of advances in exchange for 2.687 billion unissued shares of unlisted preferred shares worth P2.687 billion.

The Board of Directors of Liberty Telecoms approved the issuance of 1.316 billion shares to Vega Telecom, 872.05 million shares to Qtel, and 498.92 million to White Dawn Solution Holdings Inc. last April 29.

The consideration for the issuance of preferred shares was the advances of Vega, White Dawn, and Qtel used to fund the working capital requirements of Wi-Tribe Telecoms Inc.

With the additional shares, the stake of San Miguel Corp.’s Vega Telecom in Liberty Holdings increased to 45.05 percent from 41.48 percent while that of Qtel rose to 29.46 percent from 26.75 percent.

Likewise, the stake of White Dawn inched up to 18.46 percent from 18.36 percent.

Last October, Liberty Telecoms infused P7.6 billion into its wholly-owned subsidiary Wi-Tribe Telecoms through a debt to equity conversion.

Liberty Telecoms is still pursuing plans to launch various services in the telecommunication industry despite the dominance of major players led by Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) and Ayala-led Globe Telecom Inc.

Liberty Telecoms is a joint venture between SMC and Qatar Telecom Its wholly-owned subsidiaries include Wi-Tribe Telecoms Inc. and Skyphone Logistics Inc.