Fear of rejection by antitrust body pushes PLDT to withdraw SkyCable offer



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MANILA, Philippines – Telecommunications giant PLDT Inc. is no longer competing for SkyCable Corp. of ABS-CBN Corp., one of the country’s largest cable TV companies, fearing the antitrust regulator will reject the deal. .

PLDT President and CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan said on Thursday (November 5) that the group has “withdrawn” from the SkyCable bidding process, which became an unexpected acquisition target following attacks by the Duterte administration to ABS-CBN Corp., leading to the loss of its broadcast franchise last July.

PLDT already controls satellite television company CignalTV and main broadcaster TV5.

It is moving away from what appeared to be a strong interest in acquiring SkyCable under the exemptions for corporate acquisitions provided by the recently approved Bayanihan to Recover as One Act.

But Pangilinan said that PLDT’s own legal review revealed that under the law, the Philippine Competition Commission may still be subject to scrutiny transactions and even reversed deals.

“That risk could arise, the risk is there and the divestment prospect could be real, so we decided not to attract the risk,” Pangilinan said.

ABS-CBN communications chief Kane Errol Choa said that Inquirer PLDT’s offer to acquire SkyCable was not solicited.

“Withdrawing your offer is your prerogative. This has no impact on SkyCable’s operations, ”he said.

PLDT told the Philippine Stock Exchange last September that it was evaluating options on a possible deal with SkyCable. The conversations were first reported by the Bilyonaryo website.

The purchase of SkyCable, which has a major home broadband internet business, fuels PLDT’s own expansion into media and fixed broadband, where demand is increasing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to ABS-CBN’s latest financial filing, SkyCable became profitable in the first half of 2020 after posting years of losses.

From January to June, its net income reached P115 million, reversing a loss of P71 million last year, while revenue increased 10.4 percent to P5.1 billion.

Business prospects, however, took another hit at the end of that period.

On June 30, the National Telecommunications Commission ordered SkyCable to shut down satellite television services to its 1.5 million customers after its franchise was not renewed by lawmakers allied with President Rodrigo Duterte.

SkyCable would also have been PLDT’s last high-profile transaction after it joined forces with rival Globe Telecom in 2016 to gain control of the San Miguel Corp. conglomerate’s telecom assets and frequencies. The PCC is also looking to review that deal. and the case is pending in the Supreme Court.

TSB

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