IBC, Primestate in JV for realty project

MANILA, Philippines - Intercontinental Broadcasting Corp. (IBC) has entered into a joint venture agreement with leading construction firm Primestate Ventures to develop the 4.1-hectare Broadcast City property into a mixed-use commercial and residential complex.

Under the develop, finance and build scheme, Primestate will also build a new IBC corporate building, tailor-made for IBC 13 operations, complete with office spaces, built-in modern studios, and complementary amenities sufficient to house at least two network operations.

It is expected that in the next five years, IBC 13 will be transformed from a broadcast station that has outdated and dilapidated structures and antiquated facilities, into a modern and competitive broadcasting entity that could rival the giant networks.

The joint venture agreement was signed recently in the presence of the IBC Employees Union and IBC  Supervisors and Directors. Through their respective directors and officers, the two unions also signed with IBC-13 a memorandum of agreement which allocated the full P278-million  cash component of IBC-13’s expected revenues for the settlement of arrears in employee benefits.

This is pursuant to an earlier MOA signed between them the week before and a much earlier agreement signed in 2008.  Attached to the new agreement was a payment schedule detailing how the P278 million will be distributed to each and every employee.   

IBC will have a guaranteed income of P275 million in the next six years.

Under the joint venture, IBC-13 stands to receive guaranteed revenues of P728 million, or roughly P20,000 per square meter.  This return is superior considering the P10,000 per square meter appraisal of both the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Quezon City government, and the P11,000 per square meter and P8,000 per square meter appraisals by IBC-13 independent appraisers.     

Officials said the investment of IBC-13 in the joint venture is fully secured by a performance bond, and shall be more than compensated by the delivery of a new corporate building for IBC-13, complete with live studios and network facilities sufficient to accommodate even the requirements of RPN-9, which also operates in Broadcast City, a commercial building which it can use to generate additional income, and the P278 million cash component which will be used to pay for the company’s outstanding obligations to its employees.

They added that IBC-13 employees will be extended additional benefits in the form of special rates of discounts and additional income opportunities in the form of referral incentives for sales of the condominium units that will be put up by Primestate. 

A self-contained residential hub of medium-rise condominium buildings will be constructed inside the Broadcast City complex where IBC 13 will have substantial share in the revenues that will be generated.

Meanwhile, almost IBC 13 will be housed in six-storey building, complete with elevators and amenities and common areas. It will have modern studios and offices that will meet the corporate and technical programming demands of both IBC 13 and RPN 9 networks.

The JV will not involve government funds and would instead rely on the goodwill of the developer to advance monies to settle management’s outstanding obligations to its employees.

IBC has been looking for partners since 2008 to help it modernize its programming and technical capabilities and address its burgeoning obligations to its employees and creditors amounting to some P650 million.